Turn, if you will, in your Bibles
back to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, where we were
this morning. Acts chapter 2. In verse 25 of Acts 2, Peter
begins his answer to the question of this multitude about what
means this, that is, they're being filled with the Holy Spirit
and speaking in the languages that the people there would understand.
And Peter answers this way in verse 25, for David speaketh
concerning him. I think what time we're gathered
here tonight, that right there will suffice to be a message,
if God's pleased to allow me to preach it, for David speaketh
concerning him." Peter knew, he was well aware, as he himself,
that these many men he spoke to gathered here at this time,
at this festival of Pentecost, hailed their patriarch David,
a king over Israel, in very great esteem. Peter was aware of that. But he tells them in our text
that David himself held somebody else even in greater esteem. And that was not David himself,
but the son of David, Jesus Christ the Lord. And that's who Peter
speaks of. In each and every instance where
he speaks of David and he quotes from various Psalms, Psalm 101,
Psalm 16, other passages. In every place, David is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look again, if you will, at verse
25, the rest of the verse. I foresaw the Lord always before
my face. Here he's quoting from the 16th
Psalm. And David is speaking not of
himself, but of Jesus Christ. I foresaw the Lord always before
my face, for he is at my right hand, and I shall not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad. That's still speaking of Christ. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope, because thou wilt not, this is Christ's words to
God the Father, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. And throughout Peter's message,
he tells them over again, David is speaking of Christ. These
Psalms, these prophecies, they all apply to him. Oh, what a blessed message, for
David speaketh concerning him. And so did all the prophets. So did the Psalms. So did the
Law of Moses, or rather the five books of Moses, the first five
books in Scripture. Christ, when he rose from the
dead, in Luke chapter 24, as we read this morning, he instructed
them, he taught them, out of the law, Moses, out of the Psalms,
and out of the prophets, the things concerning himself. It's all about him. So Peter
follows suit. When he witnesses of Jesus Christ,
he uses David, whom they esteemed, and he says, but David spoke
about him. And so did all the apostles.
Turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 13. Just one more example and
then we'll come back to Acts 2. Now, the Lord, by his mighty
grace, has converted that fierce enemy, the most fierce enemy,
the most The one that hated Christ most in all of Jerusalem in that
day was Saul of Tarsus. Oh, but he's been made to bow
to King Jesus. And now he's received into fellowship
by the church. And God separates him and Barnabas
to the work that they would have them do. And in verse 14 of Acts
13, we read that they come to Antioch. And let's just read
what Paul preached there. Acts 13 verse 14, But when they
departed from Perga, that is, Barnabas and Saul, they came
to Antioch in Pisania, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath
day, and sat down. And after the reading of the
law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them,
saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation
for the people, say on. Now I don't know if that ruler
of the synagogue regretted what he did, but Peter, or I'm sorry,
Saul, Paul, instead of preaching Moses, he preached Christ. They read from the law and from
the prophets, but when Paul was given the opportunity, look what
he preached. The same message that Peter did. Verse 22. Verse 22 of Acts 13. And when he had removed him,
that is, God removed Saul, he raised up unto them David to
be their king. To whom also he gave testimony
and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after
mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's seed
hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior,
Jesus. He takes the scriptures, the
Old Testament scriptures, which they were reading, and takes
them directly to Jesus Christ, because that's what the message
is. Look on down in the same chapter, the verse 27 of Acts
13. Paul continues his message. And
they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they
knew him not, that is Christ, nor yet the voices of the prophets,
which are read every Sabbath day, that's what they've just
done. they had fulfilled them in condemning him. And though
they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate
that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and
laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead."
Sounds exactly like Peter's message, doesn't it? All because the message
of Scripture is one message. It's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ
crucified, Jesus Christ risen, Jesus Christ exalted, and Jesus
Christ reigning right now. Right now. Also, Peter and Paul
were in perfect harmony with one another. They said David
spoke the things concerning him. Turn, if you will, to the last
book, or the last chapter in the book of Acts. We find Paul,
doing years later, preaching the very same thing. The same message. He's been arrested. We're told here in Acts chapter
28 that he's in his own hard house, and people are allowed
to come to him. He's allowed to have visitors.
So not like the prisons he was used to, he seems to have some
freedom, although it was limited. But in Acts chapter 28, during
his arrest, look what we read of in verse 20. For this cause, therefore, have
I called for you, that is, the chief of the Jews, to see you
and to speak to you, because that for the hope of Israel I
am bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither
received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any
of the brethren that Cain showed or spake any harm of thee, but
we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest, for as concerning
this sect, this sect of the Nazarene, we know that everywhere it is
spoken against. And when they had appointed him
a day, there came many to him unto his lodging, to whom he
expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning
Jesus Christ, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets
from morning till evening. Now you think you could listen
to that, Louis? From morning till evening, Paul's one message,
even when he was bound with a chain, his one message, that one thing
that consumed him was the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Look on down, if you will, at
verse 30 of Acts 28. The last picture we have of Paul
in the book of Acts, anyway. And Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own house and received all that came in unto him, preaching
the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Oh, then afterwards, I think,
Paul was arrested again. And he doesn't have the liberty
in 2 Timothy that he does here. Turn, if you will, to 2 Timothy
chapter 4. I believe this to be Paul's last
written words. But he's not changed his mind. He's not changed his message.
Oh, he doesn't have the freedom that we read of in Acts. Oh,
he says everybody's for Sutton. I don't even have the bare necessities. Timothy, come before winter,
and if you do, bring my cloak. It's cold in this dungeon cell,
all but the flame of the glorious gospel of Christ still burns
brightly in the old soldier's heart. Listen to what he says
at verse 1, 2 Timothy 4. I charge thee therefore before
God, Timothy. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His
kingdom, preach the Word. Nothing else matters. These fads
will come and go. All but preach the Word. God's
Word will abide forever, be instant, unceasing. out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering in doctrine. For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their
own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching
ears, and they'll pay preachers lots of money to scratch them.
Tell us what we want to hear, verse four, and they shall turn
away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables."
I read that this afternoon and made a note of it in my message. And I was reminded about 20 years
ago, I had just started working at UK and a fellow that I became
acquainted with there and somewhat friendly with, went to a church
who was looking for a pastor. So he asked me to come preach.
Well, I pretty well knew what to expect. I know they didn't
know what to expect. But I went. I'd preach at the
Vatican if given an invitation. I'd only be given one invitation,
but I loved to preach to that old man over in Rome, the gospel
of God's free grace. But anyway, I went and preached.
It's amazing how people hear, or rather listen, or hear, but
really don't listen, or vice versa. Because I thought, that's
the only time they'll have me back. I didn't change what I
believed. Monday morning, Kent comes up
to me and says, Larry, they want you back. I said, are you sure? Yeah. He said, Larry, I can put
in a good word for you. I'm on the pulpit committee.
And he said, I'll tell you what, our last pastor will give you
what we gave him, $40,000 a year. I said, say what? $40,000 a year? And he said,
an expense account, and a car, and a credit card, and a house. You want one for nothing. You'll
never make that kind of money here. That's the only thing he
and I agreed on. No, I never did. Not even close. But I said, Kenny, that's not
what it's about. His name was Kenneth. I said,
that's not what it's about. It's not about money. And he
just looked at me, and just, right over his head. And finally
I told him, listen, he asked me, why won't you come? I said,
man, I can't. Because the gospel I preach,
what I believe, is not what you believe. It's not what your church
believes. And somebody would have to compromise,
and it's not going to be me. The cost is too much. Oh, Timothy,
preach the Word. In season, out of season. When they like it, when they
don't. When they pay you, when they
don't. Preach the Word, Timothy, because
I charge you before God Almighty. Preach the Word. That's serious
business, isn't it? Oh, Paul went on in verse 18. His last words before he was
led out into that courtyard and his head probably laid upon a
chopping block. Being a Roman, he couldn't be
crucified. He was probably beheaded. But
he says in verse 18, and the Lord shall deliver me from every
evil work and shall preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. The Lord will preserve me. The Lord will keep me. I'm in his mighty hand and bless
God. He's never lost one. He's going to keep me unto his
heavenly kingdom. And what Paul said concerning
himself is true of all God's people. Oh, we cannot thank too
much of Christ, can we? We cannot trust him too much.
That's not possible. We can't glory in the cross too
much. It's just not possible. We can't
hear of him too much. We can't speak of him too much.
We can't sing of him too much. Up in Newcastle, Indiana, I was
scheduled to preach one Sunday. I'd been there quite a few times.
And Brother Glenn Whitehead told me Saturday night when he met
me, we went out to have a bite to eat. And he said, Larry, a
certain couple probably won't be there tomorrow. I said, is
that right? He said, yeah, they called me when they found out
you were preaching. And they said, we just can't
listen to him. He strums on one string. All he knows is one string. All he preaches is Christ. We
just can't come and hear him. That's sad, isn't it? That's
sad. Oh, thank God. I'm guilty. And
I plan to stay guilty, don't you? Oh, determined to know nothing
but Jesus Christ. Peter says back in Acts 2, David
spoke concerning him. David spoke of him. Oh, in verse
29, concerning David's throne, it was speaking of a greater
than David. King David, David's king, the
king of kings, his throne is never vacated. You remember when
the angel appeared to Mary and said, Mary, you're going to conceive
and have a son and he shall be great. He shall set up on the
throne of his father David and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. He shall reign forever and ever. Isaiah said in the year that
King Uzziah died, my king died. Oh, but I lifted my eyes to heaven
and there was one sitting upon the throne who rules forever. He never vacates his throne. Oh, and then in verse 31, when
Peter speaks of the resurrection again, He's not speaking of David. He quotes from the Psalm of David,
but again, he's speaking of Jesus Christ. In every instance, David
spoke concerning him. Did he not? Not only in these
Psalms that Peter mentioned, but all of them. Can you not
picture David, Jesse's youngest son? being the eighth of his
child, Jesse having eight sons. You remember when Samuel came
to anoint Israel's future king, Jesse, his father, didn't even
think he should even be in the house, kept him out there tending
the sheep. Oh, can you imagine when David
tended those sheep as a young lad, looking over those sheep,
protected them from lions, bears, Sitting on that hillside, looking
over his flock, he said, the Lord is my shepherd. Oh, the Lord's my shepherd. I
shall not want. I shall not like. Like I care
for these, oh, the Lord cares for me. He is my shepherd. My Shepherd. The Scriptures call
Christ our Chief Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Good Shepherd,
and put them all together, He's my Shepherd. He's my Good Shepherd
that laid down His life for me, Lord. He's the Chief Shepherd. and he's the great shepherd of
the sheep and he's my shepherd. I don't like anything if he's
my shepherd. Oh, I shall not want. Oh, the
hymn writer said, and I like the old hymn, I've quoted it
before, I'm sure, but just one verse. He leadeth me, O blessed
thought, O words with heavenly comfort fraught, where'er I go,
where'er I be, still tis God's hand that leadeth me. Man, what a sweet, sweet promise
we can lay our weary heads on. He'll preserve me, he'll keep
me unto his heavenly kingdom. Oh yes, was David speaking concerning
him when he went before that giant Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter
17? Remember that? Was he speaking
of Christ when he went before that giant of a man? Turn if
you will. The first Samuel chapter 17.
It's a familiar story. Oh, but it's a good picture.
It's a good picture of our David, the son of David. Israel is on one side of a valley. The Philistines are on the other
side. And they have this giant. They've
got this champion of a warrior, Goliath. And every day he comes
out, for 40 days, he comes out into that valley and he challenges
Saul the king and all his armies, and David's three oldest brothers
was among them, come out here and meet me. He defied the armies
of Israel. He defied their God. He said,
is there not anybody that'll come out and meet me? If they
beat me, then we'll surrender. If I beat them, then you surrender. Is there not one among you? And
David, again, he's at home tending sheep. But Jesse, his father,
gives him some food to take to his three older brothers. And
while David's there, Goliath comes out and offers that same
challenge. And David said, what's the problem
here? Why are you allowing this uncircumcised
Philistine to cuss the God of Israel? How can you allow this? And his brother said, oh, you
think you're too big for your britches. Why don't you just
go back home where you belong? And he said, I'll fight that
Philistine. And what David said got back
to Saul. And Saul said, oh, well then.
Let's let him do it. Bring him on. Because they were
all hiding in the caves. And David comes. He tries on
Saul's armor. And he says, I just can't operate
in this. Can't work in this. I'll just take my sling and my
five stones. We're told he picked up five
stones. Five stones. Somebody said he thought maybe
Goliath had some brothers so he'd take care of them too. But
look at verse 37 of 1 Samuel 17. David said, moreover, the
Lord that delivered me out of the pawl of the lion and out
of the pawl of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of
this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, go
and the Lord be with thee. And Saul armed David with his
armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also he
armed him with his coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon
his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it.
And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not
proved them. And David put them off him. And
he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones
out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he
had even in a scrib, and his sling, which was in his hand,
and he drew near to the Philistine. Now, if a cubit was 21 inches
in length, Goliath was 11 feet tall. Louis, you'd have to look
up to him. He's a big man. His shield probably
weighed more than David. Oh, let's read on. Verse 30-41,
And the Philistine came and then drew near unto David, and the
man that bared his shield went before him. And when the Philistine
looked about and saw David, can you imagine that? Look what it
says, he disdained him. Looked down on him and said,
are you kidding me? Are you serious? He disdained
him, for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou
comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods. And the Philistine said to David,
Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air,
and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine,
Thou comest to me, Now here's God's answer. Thou comest to
me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield. But I come
to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies
of Israel, which thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into my hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head
from thee, and I will give the carcass give the carcasses of
the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air,
and unto the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may
know that there is a God in Israel." And you know the outcome, don't
you? Look, verse 49, and David put
his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone and sling it,
and smote the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sunk
into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth."
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone. It's not by might, it's not by
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. It pleased God through
the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe, and
smoked the Philistine, and slew him, but there was no sword in
the hand of David. So he used Goliath's own sword
and cut off his head. Oh, what a champion! What a champion! Oh, but look at our champion,
our champion, the son of David, Jesus Christ himself. Look what
he did. Look what he conquered. Look
what he brought in. Look what he faced. The wrath
of a holy God. He took the cup of God's wrath,
and the champion of our salvation drank damnation dry. Hallelujah. What a Savior. What
a Savior. Turn, if you will, to Colossians.
Colossians chapter 1. Oh, Paul tells us what our champion
did. Oh, because you see, what David
did is just a picture of that one who is a greater than David. In Galatians chapter 1, look
at verse 20. Well, let's read verse 19. Galatians
1, 19. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself,
by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in
heaven. And you that were sometimes alienated,
and enemies in your mind by wicked works. And that's the way I wanted
it. That's the way I wanted it. I
didn't want Christ. I didn't want his salvation.
I didn't want nothing to do with him. But you know what? The champion
of my salvation, my David, came to where I was and said, you'll
become willing in the day of my power. And a short time later,
I found myself crying before his throne like a little baby,
begging him to have mercy on me. Oh, yeah. Thank God. David. the captain of our salvation. Verse 22, in the body of his
flesh through death, look, look what he did. What David did pales in comparison
to what the son of David did. Verse 22 again, in the body of
his flesh through death, to present you holy, unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. My soul! You, a sinner like you,
Lord, and me, Jesus Christ, By His living and His dying will
reconcile me to God in such a way that before the presence of a
holy God I'll be without spot or blemish or any such thing. My soul! What a work! What a work! What a Savior! Look at chapter 2 of Galatians.
Chapter 2 verse 13. Read again of the great conqueror. King Jesus, and you being dead
in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, had he quickened. hath he quickened together with
him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled, the word
is disarmed. disarmed principalities and powers,
he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them. Oh, up from the grave he arose
with a mighty triumph over his foes. He arose forever from the
dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He
arose, He arose, hallelujah, Christ arose. And it's not once
a year we rejoice in that. Every day we know we have one
in glory representing us affectionately before the Father all the time. make an intercession for us. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 51.
Peter said, David spake concerning him. Does that include the 51st
Psalm too? You know where I'm going. You
know what this psalm is about. The heading above the psalm in
my Bible says to the chief musician, a psalm of David. when Nathan
the prophet came unto him after he had gone into Bathsheba. You remember that. He had Uriah,
Bathsheba's husband, killed so he could take her to be his wife. After all God had done, that's
what David did. Nathan came in to him, gave him
the story about a rich man taking the lamb of a poor man. And David
was indignant. He said, such a man will be killed. And what was taken of him, he
returned fourfold. And Nathan said, you're the man. I'm talking about you, David.
God knows what you did. And that's when David wrote this
song. Have mercy upon me, O God. According
to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Against thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I
was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the
hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. O God, make me to hear joy and
gladness again, because it's gone. All that fills my heart
now is the anguish of my sin before you. Wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy
face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in
me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away. Cast me not
away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. When Nathan
said, Thou art to man, David, David said, Oh, I've sinned. I've sinned against God. And
you remember what the next words were? Nathan said, and God has
put away your sin. Oh, amazing grace. Amazing grace. God has put away your sin. Don't ask me why the 32nd Psalm
follows the 51st. Because David wrote the 32nd
after the 51st. And this is what he said. When
Nathan said, God hath put away your sin, look what David says. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. whose sin is covered, blessed
is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones
waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and
night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture was turned into
the drought of summer sea lot. I acknowledge my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sin." Your sin, David, has been put away. Your sin was
laid upon the Lamb of God before the foundation of the world. My soul, what a savior. One last
scene in the life of the sweet singer in Israel. Turn, if you
will, to 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 23. One last scene in the life of
the son of Jesse, Israel's king. the writer of so many songs. He's come down to die. In 2 Samuel chapter 23, verse
1, now these be the last words of David, the son of Jesse, and
said, and the man who was raised Jesse said, I'm sorry, and the
man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob,
and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, the spirit of the Lord
spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel
said, the rock of Israel said, the rock of Israel. Now who's
that? Upon this rock Christ said. Jesus
Christ, the Rock of Israel, spake to me, he that ruleth over men
must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the
light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without
clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth by the clear
shining after the rain. And then David says, although
my house be not so with God, I know something about that,
and so do you. Although my house be not so with
God, not as I'd like, not as I pray
God will make it. Oh, but look what David says,
yet, yet, yet he had made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things insure. And again, he speaks concerning
David's son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because the covenant was made
with Christ on the behalf of his people. Yet he hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things insure.
This is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make
it not to grow. Oh, what a comfort, what a comfort. He had made with me, he has made
on my behalf with my surety an everlasting covenant. And in
that covenant of God's grace, my surety agreed to do everything
necessary, everything that God required to secure the everlasting
salvation of all those that He entrusted into the hands of His
Son. This is what the writer speaks
of in Hebrews 13 when he says, Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through or because of or according to the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation. And all my hope, all my salvation,
all my salvation depends on Him. None of it depends on me. I realize
as I say that, most religious people, most churches around
us, they'd hear that and they'd tell me, don't you let the door
hit you on the way out. We can stand that. Oh, but that's
grace. That's grace. Thank God for such
grace. Ordered in all things and sure,
this is all my salvation and all my hope. Oh, what a way to
die. What a way to lay down, lay down
for the last time, knowing I'm about to close my eyes to this
world and its sorrows and its heartaches. And when I open them,
I'm going to be looking at the King, hallelujah. My soul, my soul. I've got to
wrap this up. Years ago, when I was still living
in West Virginia, I had to prove this week that
I was born there. Well, I'm going to prove it tomorrow. Enough about that. But anyway,
there was an old lady. We all called her Granny Arthur.
I was acquainted with her family. And I used to try to witness
to her as best I could as a young Christian. But she was self-righteous. as
self-righteous as she could be, never saw her need of Christ
whatsoever. She became quite ill. They sent
her home from the hospital to die. Nothing they could do. She
lived alone. So I went to visit her. I thought,
maybe, perhaps, God's used this to soften her. Maybe now she'll
listen. And I went in and pulled up a
chair, sat down right next to her bed, her hospital bed they
had brought there to her house. And I opened my Bible to Luke
chapter 18. And I read her this parable,
where our Lord, we read, he spake this parable unto certain which
trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. And, Louie, I talked to that
old woman like I was talking to my six-year-old granddaughter.
As simple, as plain as I could be. because I wanted her to understand
what I was saying, what Christ was saying here. Because in just
a little while, she was going to go out to meet God Almighty,
and the only thing she had to stand before Him was her self-righteous
rise. And I said, Granny, do you hear
what the Pharisee prayed? And she said, I said, listen
to this publican. He smote on his breast and all
he said, Granny, was, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And listen, Granny, listen to
what the Lord Jesus said. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. I said, Grandma,
what do you think of that? What do you think? And she looked
at me long and said, That Pharisee was a good man, wasn't he? That's what she said. She identified with him. When
our Lord said he's going home justified, she thought he was
talking about the Pharisee. About two days later, she went
out to meet God Almighty. I left that funeral thinking
to myself, thank God for His grace that's made me to differ. Thank God for that grace that's
made me to differ. Because And I want you to understand
this, and I'm sure you do. And you can say the same thing. Because of His matchless grace
upon this sinner, I take this verse to be my own.
Our Lord looks from the throne of His
sovereign majesty, and He looks at this sinner, And he says, I tell you, this
man's going home justified, not guilty. He's fine. And I'm his forever, forever. God bless you. God bless you.
We'll sing a closing hymn and be dismissed.