A Full Heart And Closed Mouth

Q: What does the Bible say about God's grace?

The Bible teaches that God's grace is an unmerited favor bestowed upon sinners, covering their sins and reconciling them to Himself. The concept of God's grace is foundational in Scripture, especially highlighted in the covenant relationship God establishes with His people. For instance, in Ezekiel 16:60-63, God describes His mercy towards Israel despite their egregious sins, promising an everlasting covenant. This underscores that grace is not earned; rather, it is a divine gift. God's grace is manifested in His willingness to forgive and cover the sins of His people, as seen in Isaiah 43:25, where He states, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' This grace leads to a profound response of amazement and gratitude in the believer's heart, reminiscent of what the Apostle Paul articulates in Romans 5:20: 'But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.'

Q: How do we know God's mercy is true?

God's mercy is affirmed by His promises in Scripture and the sacrificial work of Christ, who covers our sins completely. The assurance of God's mercy can be found throughout Scripture, culminating in the person of Jesus Christ. As discussed in Ezekiel 16, despite Israel's sinful state, God promises an everlasting covenant, demonstrating His commitment to mercy. Furthermore, the New Testament reveals that God's mercy is embodied in the sacrifice of Christ, who bore the penalty for our sins. Hebrews 8:12 proclaims, 'For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.' This is vital because it establishes that God's mercy is not contingent upon human works or worthiness, but is grounded in His character and the redemptive work accomplished through Christ.

Q: Why is understanding sin and grace important for Christians?

Understanding sin and grace is crucial as it deepens our appreciation for God's mercy and shapes our humility before Him. Grasping the concepts of sin and grace is fundamental to the Christian faith because it reveals the depth of our need for salvation and the height of God's love. In Ezekiel 16, Israel’s extraordinary sin serves as a backdrop to showcase God's amazing grace. The acknowledgment of sin leads to genuine contrition and, ultimately, recognition of grace. Romans 3:23 states, 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,' signifying our dire state without God's intervention. Conversely, grace, as articulated in Ephesians 2:8-9, teaches that we are saved 'by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God.' This understanding fosters a humble heart, recognizing that salvation is entirely based on God’s unmerited favor rather than human merit, thus encouraging a life of gratitude and worship.

Q: What is the everlasting covenant of grace?

The everlasting covenant of grace is God's promise of salvation through Christ, established before the foundation of the world. The everlasting covenant of grace is a foundational concept in Reformed theology, emphasizing that God, in His sovereignty, unconditionally elects and redeems His people through Christ. This covenant is not based on human actions but entirely on God's initiative, as seen in His promise in Ezekiel 16:60. The nature of this covenant is to provide a secure relationship between God and believers, where their sins are completely covered and forgiven. It underscores the truth found in 2 Timothy 1:9: 'Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.' This assurance allows believers to rest in the finished work of Christ, knowing their standing before God is secure in Him.

If you have a Bible this morning,
please turn back with me to the 16th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. I want to read this morning beginning
with verse 60 and read down through verse 63. If you would, please
follow me as I read. Nevertheless, I will remember
my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will
establish unto thee and everlasting covenant. Then shalt thou remember
thy ways, and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy sisters,
thine elder and thy younger, and I will give them unto thee
for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I will establish
my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,
that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open
thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified
toward thee, for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God."
I want to talk this morning about the heart being full and the
mouth being closed. That would be the title, I guess,
of my message this morning. Now there are two things that
I noticed in this chapter as I read it and as I re-read it. And this is a chapter that many,
many churches a hundred years ago would not have read to their
congregation. This is a chapter that in our
day and time, of course, we are not moved by what we read here
because we're so familiar with so much in our time that is evil
and wicked and filthy. But nevertheless, we have read
this chapter in your presence this morning, you've heard the
reading of the Word, and there are two things that stand out
to me in the reading of this chapter, and I want us to notice
them in the opening up this morning of our message. The first is
the extraordinary sin of the people of Israel. Now God speaks
of their sin in the strongest imaginable language. He represents Judah's sin as
being greater than the sins of Sodom and Samaria. Though both Sodom and Samaria
has been destroyed because of their abominations, this people,
the Lord compares Judah's backslidings to the lewdness of a woman who
forgets her marriage vows and sins with many lovers, adding
filthiness to filthiness. And he shows sin to be a violation
of the heart's love to God and the soul's chastity towards the
Most High. Now the other thing that is here
set forth in this chapter, the first thing is the extraordinary
sin of the people of Israel and Judah. And the other thing that
I see that catches my eye in the reading of this chapter is
that it sets forth, at the end of the chapter, it sets forth
God's amazing and wonderful grace. How when he began with Israel,
he found her like an infant that was cast out in her blood, and
she was unswaddled, she was unwashed, and he took her up in all of
her filthiness and said to her, live. and he washed, and he cleansed
her, and he clothed her, and he gave her jewels, and when
she grew to riper years, she turned aside from him, turned
aside from his mercies, into occasions of provocations, and
made his blessings to be very instruments of sin
and he described himself in this chapter as pardoning her again
and again and yet she continued to invent new sins looking down
all the while upon Sodom and Samaria which were her sisters,
as the Lord calls them, with a holier-than-thou attitude,
and yet behaving worse than Sodom and Samaria, and going deeper
and deeper into rebellion against the Lord every day that God permitted
her to breathe upon the earth. And yet His mercy seems to follow
her. His love still pursues her. Because there was a day when
God said that He made a covenant with her and said, You're mine. And He said, You're mine. You
belong to Me. So God mercy follows her and
his love pursues her and he makes here this chapter, this long
chapter to culminate in mercy with such words as are in our
text this morning. The words that I've read to you
twice over here. Now there are two words that
if we can learn I think the meaning of them that they'll teach us
deep practical wisdom and will certainly instruct us in the
ways of God, prepare us, give us a foundation for the appreciation
of God's grace. Those two words are sin and grace. Now you would think everybody
would understand those two words, but my friend, not too many people
understand what sin really is. and there are far less that know
anything about grace. No one has ever measured the
depths of either of these words except one, and that was the
blessed Lord Jesus Christ. And when he measured them, first
of all he was in Gethsemane in a bloody sweat when he measured
the depths of sin, and on Calvary when he poured out his soul unto
death. Only our suffering lover, the
Lord Jesus Christ, knows the depths and the perfection of
these two words, sin and grace. only our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
it may be that you might think, well, any preacher ought to know
the depths of these two words. Well, the older I get, I think
the more I understand about these two words, sin and grace. But
beloved, I'm far from understanding the depths of them. I'm far from
understanding the real meaning, the biblical meaning of these
two words. And I think we'll study that
throughout eternity, sin and grace. What an amazing thing
that sin is in the condescension of God Almighty to undertake
for and to love sinners and bestow upon them grace and to make them
comely through His comeliness. Oh my friend, may we be helped
to enter in this morning, just a little bit further into the
meaning through this message that we bring to you this morning. I want to talk to you about three
things in this message. First of all, the condition into
which the grace of God has brought all believers. It says in the
last part here of verse 63 that God is pacified towards them. God is pacified towards them. He says, when I am pacified toward
thee for all that thou hast done, say of the Lord God. I'm talking
about the condition in which the grace of God has brought
all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the second
place, we'll talk about the knowledge which has been imparted to all
believers, seeing that they have received and have become the
recipients of the mercy of God, and the Lord has been pacified
on their behalf, due to their sin, the Lord has been pacified,
and He's no longer angry with them. The three things that we
learn. And that being, first of all,
they know the covenant, that everlasting covenant, and it's
amazing how many of the songs that we sang this morning, including
the one Mike read to us at the outset, how that these dealt
with the subject of the everlasting covenant of God's grace. And
then they know the Lord, they know the covenant, they know
the Lord, and they know themselves. They remember what they are,
and they're confounded. And lastly, we'll have a little
bit to say about the silence which is forever worked in all
believers. Thou shalt never open thy mouth. Thou shalt never open thy mouth
anymore. because of thy shame, when I
am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done." I hope
this morning that God gives you the ability to listen to what
we have to say and I hope that God will use this message because
I believe that it's a timely message and I believe it's one
that can be most helpful to any struggling child of God here
in this weary world. First of all then, it's my business
to talk to you a little bit about this blessing condition into
which every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has been brought
by the sovereign act of God's mercy. We have been brought into
such a condition that God can say to us, and it's important
now that you listen, My friend, if you would only pay attention
and listen, I believe that you could grow in the grace of God. We've been brought into such
a condition that God can say to us, I am pacified toward thee
for all thou hast done. I am pacified toward thee. Think of all that Israel, all
that Judah had done, and God says, I am pacified toward thee
for all thou hast done. Now the Hebrew word here sets
forth forgiveness and pardon, and it properly signifies to
cover a thing with that which would adhere to and sticks to
the thing that is covered, not with dry dust or leaves, which
could be easily removed, but with glue or pitch, so that the
thing hidden cannot easily be brought to sight again. The same
word is used concerning Noah's Ark in Genesis 6 and 14. It says, Thou shalt pitch it,
within and without, with pitch. Thou shalt cover it within and
without with pitch. It's the same word as pacified. All the planks were to be covered
with pitch, not with water-based paint, but with thick pitch which
would cover them, a very sticky substance which would adhere
to the wood and penetrate it and cover it all together. Now get the picture here, when
God is pacified for all of our sins which we have done, it means
that our sins that he has covered them completely as the wood of
the ark was covered within and without, God has covered our
sins with a substance that cannot be taken off, that will not be
removed, that cannot be removed. The wind won't blow it off. Nothing
can wash it off. It's covered. Our sins have been
covered out from and from the observation of God. Not even
God can see our sins. He has been pacified from our
sins. Child of God, I beg you to think
of this for just a moment. God is pacified towards you because
your sin is covered. All of your sin is covered. It
is all gone. As far as God is concerned, your
sin no longer exist. Your sin is covered. God is pacified. He laid it on the Lord Jesus
Christ, our substitute, and He took it and He bore the penalty
of it. No, the sin itself our Lord Jesus
Christ bore and He as your scapegoat And the Bible speaks of him.
The scapegoat of the Old Testament was a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when the sins of the people
were confessed by the priest, and his hands were laid upon
the head of the scapegoat, the sin was transferred to the scapegoat,
and the scapegoat led off out into the wilderness, never to
be seen again. And our sins have been put upon
the head of our scapegoat, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're
all lost in the wilderness of God's forgetfulness. And God
does not remember our sins against us anymore. The Bible says that
He has finished transgression and He made an end of sin. He
made an end of it. And the way He made an end of
it was by putting it away, by blotting it out, by covering
it up. by being pacified toward us. Now, listen to the scripture.
This day, this scripture is fulfilled, I believe, toward every believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ. In those days, and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. That's what
the Lord said. He said there'll day come when
I'll look for your sin, I won't be able to find it. There'll
day be a day come when they shall not be found, for I'm going to
pardon those that I reserve. Those that I have made an atonement
for, those that I have made provision for in the everlasting covenant,
I have reserved them unto myself. They are my special people. I
bought them with a price and I've pardoned them and their
sin, you will not be able to find it. So the depths have covered
your sins. There's not one of them left
to meet you at the judgment. Now, can you believe this? That
God is pacified? That He could be pacified toward
a people that was as wretched and horrible as these people
we've read about this morning? The Lord is pacified for all
that we've done, and there's no grounds remain for a quarrel
between us and God. The Scripture says, O God, I
will praise Thee, for though Thou wast angry with me, Thine
anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me. The Lord's anger
is turned away. He is pacified. Now there are
many countless sins that we've committed since our childhood
and they are all forgiven. I'd like to read a scripture
out of Isaiah at this time, chapter 43. This has been a tremendous
scripture to me and a great blessing through the years. And God has
mightily, mightily blessed and spoken to my soul through this
verse, Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 25. I, even I, am he that
blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not
remember thy sins. I will not remember your sins. I'm going to blot them out and
I'm going to do it for my own sake. I will not remember your
sins. And that means that the one black
sin which cost you more regret than any other sin that you ever
committed, that it has been removed, that God has blotted it out. Do you have one black sin that
has caused you more trouble and more regret than any other sin? God said, I blotted it out. And that one repeated sin which
grew into a habit which seemed as though that it was going to
master you completely and brought you into utter bondage, it too
has died when your Savior, Jesus Christ, died on the cross. When He died, my sin died also. They're all gone, they're buried,
they're never to arise, and not one of these dead things shall
live, for the efficacy of the death which slew these sins is
eternal. Now this is very important that
you get this. If you ever understand what God's
done with your sins, how that He's pacified on account of your
sins, my friend, you will never be the same. You will never be
the same. That God has dealt with your
sin, and that it's been put away by the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They cannot rise again from the
grave, no, not one of them, while sun and moon endure, no, while
God lives, because He said they shall not be mentioned against
you anymore forever. They'll never be mentioned against
you anymore forever. Who can lay anything, Paul said
in the book of Romans, to the charge of God's elect? Well,
why? God is pacified, that's why,
towards his people for all that they've done, altogether pacified
for their sins. Their sins have ceased to be,
and none can lay anything to the charge of God's elect. Now brethren, this is not occasionally
true. This is not occasionally true. But it is always true whether
we enjoy the sense of it or not. Now this helped me, this was
a blessing to me. The standing of a believer, the
standing of a child of God depends, it does not depend upon his recognition
of his standing. Now get that. The standing of
a child of God does not depend upon his recognition of his standing. There are many times when a believer
can see his sins, but cannot see his Savior. Have you ever
been that way? Why, you could see all your faults
and your failures, you could see your blackness, your lewdness,
you could see the desperateness of your case, but you couldn't
see the Savior. You couldn't see the pardon.
You couldn't see that God had put away your sin. You didn't
sense it. You couldn't feel it. But did that mean that you were
not pardoned? No. Is the child of God pardoned
at all times? Yes. He is pardoned at all times,
even while he is self-condemning, while he is condemning himself.
He is yet pardoned. And I know that there are some
people that have difficulty with that, but I'm sorry. That's what
the Word of God teaches. God has not been pacified occasionally. God is pacified in the everlasting
covenant of grace perpetually on the behalf of His people.
It was not when the Israelites saw the blood. on the door post
that they were spared no the Lord said when I see the blood
it's when I see the blood I'll pass over you it's not when you
see it you say I don't see a lot of this preacher but it's when
the Lord sees the blood that he passes over you and if Christ
shed his blood on Calvary for you my friend then God sees that
blood, and your sin is put away. This is the main thing, that
God sees the blood. That God sees that sacrifice
that Jesus made on our behalf. When I cannot read my title clear
to mansions in the sky, I know that God sees the blood. And I believe in the fact that
Jesus Christ died an effectual death on the behalf of all those
that God had given to Him before the foundation of the world in
that covenant of grace. And when my eyes of faith is
dimmed and my sense of rest in Christ is overloaded with the
yet deeper sense of my own unworthiness, yet still my standing is not
altered, before god my security is not affected the pacifying
of the lord's toward me never changes one bit it does not i'm
telling you this is not an occasional bang This is a perpetual thing
with God's people at all times, in the dark as well as in the
light, in times of downtastings as well as in times of uplifting,
the Lord is pacified towards His people. Well, I wish that
we could live in the power of this more completely. I wish
we could, that we could grasp this more fully and live in the
power of it more completely. Child of God, you ought to have
a grateful and restful memory of your complete deliverance
from the wrath of God due to sin. God is pacified towards
you concerning all your sin, all of its heinousness and hideousness
and horror. Now, it doesn't make any difference
whatever conception you have, yet in all its terribleness,
God is pacified toward you concerning your sin. And no man ever had
a true estimate of sin, of his sin. No person ever had a true
estimate of his or her sin. Your sin is always worse than
you estimate it to be. And don't you ever forget that.
Say, Preacher, I think I understand how bad I am. Well, I'm sorry,
friend. The Bible says that the heart
is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately wicked,
and no man, no man can know it. No man can know the depths of
the wickedness of his own heart. You cannot know it. And so you
think all you want to, and you look at yourself, and you look
at your sin, and your foolishness, and your rebellion, and what
you are. And you say, I think I got a pretty good estimate.
You don't have the facts. You don't have the ability. Bless
God for full deliverance and that he's pacified regardless
of how deep is our sin. Now then, let's talk a little
bit about what we've learned in the process of reaching this
peaceful standing before God, that our sins are pacified, that
God is pacified on the behalf of our sins. What have we learned?
Well, now listen, I think that the people of God generally have
learned three things. I do not say that we all learned
them equally. I would to God that we did. I wish that we would all know
them equally. But we have learned, first of
all, that salvation is by covenant. God said, I will establish my
covenant with thee. Now, listen to this because this
is so important that you get this in connection with what
we've already said. We were lost by a covenant. That's right. We were all lost
by a covenant. Adam, the first Adam, stood for
us and he represented us in the old covenant of works. Adam was our representative. We were in him and he represented
us. And when he fell, we fell in
him. The devils, when they fell, they
fell each one for themselves so they could never rise again. And they are right now awaiting
that dreadful judgment of God that is to come upon them in
that day. They cannot rise again. They fell individually. But we
fell by another in a covenant made with another. We fell in the first man Adam. Now here then was the way that
we were to be restored again. And that is by covenant. Here it is. Jesus Christ comes. This is what Mike was reading
about this morning. Jesus Christ comes. He's the second Adam.
He's the Lord from heaven. And God makes a covenant with
Him which runs like this. Listen to it. If He will bear
the penalty of sin, if He will keep the law perfectly, then
all that are in Him, all that the Father gave Him, all that
the Father chose in Him before the foundation of the world,
they would be delivered from every sin, and the righteousness
of the second Adam shall be imputed to them, and they shall be loved
and blessed as if they were righteous. Now that's the covenant. that
God has made with the Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Holy Spirit. Well, have we learned this? Christ
is a covenant for the people that people being God's people
that people being the people of his choice Christ is my Adam
and I'm in him and God saves me now not because hear me now
not because of what I did or what I am but because of what
my covenant surety was and is This is the blessed gospel. This
is a covenant. Hear me now. I cannot break.
You remember God said here before he said, I'm going to establish
my covenant with thee. But before he said that, he said,
he said, I'm going to do all this, but not by thy covenant.
I'm going to make an everlasting covenant with you. Not by thy
covenant. I'm not going to deal with you, but your covenant.
Anything you got anything to do with ain't worth the papers
written on. It won't work. You're because you're fickle
like your daddy Adam, and you would fall every time. But this
covenant, listen to me, this is a covenant that I cannot break
because I was not one of the parties entering into the covenant. Christ is the only one who can
break this covenant. He's the only one. And He will not. He cannot break
this covenant and he certainly won't. The scripture says he
will not fail. Isaiah 44, he will not fail nor
be discouraged. He's not going to fail. He's
not going to break this covenant that he's made. And therefore,
the promise is sure to all the seed. It is a covenant ordered
in all things. And sure, David says, a covenant
from which God will never, never turn aside. This is God's covenant. My covenant I will not break,
says God. Now there are certain people
who cannot stand this to be preached plainly. That is the believer's
privilege and the believer's security. But we cannot help
it. We must preach these things to
the comfort and the establishment of God's people. Isaac lives
at home. and rejoices in his birthright,
and if Ishmael and his mother, if they, well, if they love slavery
better, then just let them have all of it that they can get. I, listen to me now, if we be
the children of promise, as Isaac was, then our name is laughter,
as the name Isaac means, and so we'll rejoice as the true
heir that shall never be driven out of the house. will rejoice
in our God as the true heir, as the true heir. It is a blessed
thing then to learn the covenant, the everlasting covenant of grace
and its message. Now the next thing, or the number
two thing that I think that we You're going to learn that I
am the Lord. You're going to know that I am the Lord. I'm going
to save you in such a way that you're going to know that I am
the Lord. Now, there are certain things that
teaches us this great truth. One of them is when we learn
that we have forfeited all right all rights of creatureship by
our sin, it is only as we establish, as we are establishing the truth,
that we have no claim on God. it is only then that we know
that he is God. It's when you come to the place
where you must forfeit all claim on God. You say, well, God made
me. He owes me something. He don't
owe you nothing. You forfeited all claims on God by your sin. You have forfeited all the claims
of God. I have no rights and I make no
claims. Now this doctrine is not known
by many. In our day, they will not have
it. They cannot get down that low.
People can't get down that low. Here's what they say. Man is
a noble creature. His rights must be considered
by God. God must deal with all men alike. These are proud and arrogant
boastings, I say, and it's blasphemy against God. Now listen, I'm
not as smart as most of the preachers in this day and time, but I will
tell you this. I know that God can do what He
pleases with His grace and with His mercy. And I know it was
God that came where I was and caught me and brought me to Him. I know it was God that did that.
And I know what took place in me. I know the salvation that
God brought in my soul, the change that came over me, what God did
in me. I know that it had to be of the
Lord, that it had to be God's work, that I couldn't trace it
anywhere else, and I've been trying to trace it now for over
40 years, and it always is traced right back to the Lord. And so I know that the Lord is
God. Now, listen to me. The third
thing that we learn is this. We learn something about ourselves.
This is very important that we see this. that thou mayest remember
and be confounded and dismayed that you may remember and be
confounded that you may remember the days of your youth when I
said to you thou art mine you may remember what kind of condition
you was in when I got a hold of you and we read all of that
in the first part of this chapter they were cast out in the blood
They had not been cared for. They were like an infant cast
out into the field, the open field, for the flies to blow. They were left. They were left.
None cared for them. And yet the Lord said, He said,
now, and I know this is not comfortable. This is not a comfortable thing.
Because most people don't like to remember and there are some
people that have no ability to remember because God forbid,
but they have never been brought out of their sin. They've never
had the veil took off. They don't know anything about
themselves. They don't know anything about their wretchedness. They
don't know anything about how sinful and wicked, contrariotic
God that they really are. They don't know themselves to
be sinners. They do not know what they are before God. But
listen to me. He said, remember your lives. and let me ask you this one do
you remember your life before god saved you do you remember
do you feel at all confounded do you feel dismayed as you think
about this if you are confounded and i think you will be if you've
ever really been pardoned you're amazed you're you're amazed and
you may be a little bit mixed up how could a god uh... take a person in a mess i was
in and make a child of God out of that mess and say that you're
without spot or blemish or any such thing that you're holy without
blame before me now you're accepted by me now you that were in the
condition that you were in are you able to remember a little
bit what you were and also this being confounded I think has
something to do with you know we cannot find an excuse anymore
for our sin. We used to have maybe twenty
or a hundred excuses as to why we were sinners. As to why we
had so lived in vanity and filth and lewdness and lust and sin. We had all kinds of excuses as
to why. But you know now we just cannot
find an excuse for our sin. We're compounded. We don't have
anything to say. Our mouths are shut. We don't
have anything to say. Why did I live so long in sin
and unbelief? Can you tell me this morning
why you lived so long in unbelief? There was a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He came into the world 2,000
years ago. God said He was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Yet you lived in God's world.
You enjoyed the benefits of God's bounty in this world, and you
lived in sin and unbelief! You did. Are you not compounded
somewhat? Why would a person live in sin
and unbelief? And then there's people, you
know, that go around the world. They want to do something. They
want to feel something. They want to be something. And
there it is. We are to be nothing. Christ
is to be everything. And I'm to be saved by what He
is and what He does. and there are so many people
that are yet waiting saying, well I just want to keep looking
a little bit, preacher, I want to keep looking. Listen to me,
if you're a child of God here this morning, you must be confounded
that you were in such darkness and such blindness for the length
of time that you were in it. Have you ever put, listen to
me, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever put God's character,
God's righteous character and your own life out in front of
you and looked at the two of them? Have you ever done that?
Now if you ever do that, I'm talking about you before God
and God before you. That's what I'm talking about.
Have you ever done that? If you've ever done that, couldn't
help but be confounded. You had to be dismayed whenever
you saw what you were and seeing the righteous, holy character
of the perfect God of heaven and earth. You had to be compounded. You had to be dismayed. Now,
listen to me. I think that it brings you to
the place where you can't speak for yourself. It brings you to
this place where you're just wiped out. You can't say anything
in your defense. All you can do when you're in
that place when you realize what god has done when you come to
see the everlasting covenant you come to see how god put away
your sin you come to see that he is god and that he's done
it all salvation to the lord you've been confounded and all
you can do is admire and wonder and adore and love and bless
and praise and magnify god for such unexpected mercy so i think
that we're confounded both by our sin and by the mercy of God. Now then, the silence, and we're
through, the silence which is forever worked into a believer. I must say something about this.
God said, when I've been pacified toward your sins, He said, thou
shalt never open your mouth any more because of your shame. Now, there are some men whose
mouths will never be stopped until, I guess, the lid of the
coffin is closed. There are some men whose motto
is, as long as I live, I'll crow. I'll crow about myself. I'll
talk about myself. You know, Paul said salvation
is by grace to the end that there would be nobody that would boast.
There wouldn't be any boasting. we're not we're not living in
a day and time when people know anything about the grace of god
we're living in a works generation we know people that are making
a contribution to their own personal salvation though they have nothing,
though a man has nothing to boast of as long as he breathes as
long as man breathes he'll brag But when God saves a man, his
self-exaltation is over forever because he stops him from all
boasting about what he is and what he's been and what he thinks
he will be. Now, I just want to try, if I
can, to make this as clear and as pointed as I know how. Brother, sister, and I'm not
here filling space I believe this morning that if God were
to come into this room and if he were to shine his light upon
every soul in this room this morning I believe without doubt
without doubt and I won't take this back I believe without doubt
that it would be revealed that I am the worst sinner in this
room I think it would be revealed that I am the worst sinner here
in this room now when I was a kid I was afraid at night to go outside
by myself and my older brother and my sisters would tell me
they would say well why are you afraid to go outside by yourself. You're not going to meet anybody
uglier than you are. And that's one of the reasons
why that I don't mind to come to this church because I'm quite
certain that I'm not going to meet anybody here that is an
uglier sinner than I am. I am not going to meet anybody
here that's an uglier sinner than I am. So I'm glad to come
and glad to fellowship with you, glad to be here in your presence
in your fellowship now let me say this to illustrate this point
that their mouths, do you hear what it said? and never open
thy mouth anymore because of thy shame let's say that the
Lord would show or that he would reveal on a screen everything's
on television now but let's say the Lord was to put up here on
this wall and he was to start over here on this side whether
it be the front or the back and the Lord would begin to show
everything that we had every sin that we had committed every
thought every deed the Lord would bring it all in, He would put
it all here on this board. Now, let me tell you, I believe
what would happen is this, this is exactly what would happen.
I believe that the first person, if it be me, or if it be Mike,
or if it be Carl, or whoever it would be, one of you ladies,
the Lord was to show your thoughts, your words, maybe just for the
last year, maybe just for the last month, Maybe just for the
last week, the Lord was to show it all. I believe that the person
whose life was first shown would immediately get up, bow their
heads, go out that door and up the stairs and get in their car
and they would never come back again. They wouldn't come back
in this building again. And as we went around the room,
I think every one of you would do it. You'd bow your head. You'd
just bow your head. And you'd go out of here and
up the stairs and gone. Probably never see you again.
You may even leave town. Because it's out on me what I am. My
shame, my shame, my shame. It's out on me what I am. Now
listen. You wouldn't even stay around
to find out. What was going to come up on
the board for one of the other brothers or one of the other
sisters? You wouldn't wait around. You'd say, I can't endure it.
I can't stay until I see what brother so-and-so's done. Or
what sister so-and-so's done. I can't stay. I can't stay. I
have to get out of here. And you'd be humbled and be ashamed. Well, that's what this verse
is talking about. If God Almighty is pacified toward your sins,
God said, He said to these people, these lewd sinners, He said,
you will never, He said, you will never open your mouth again.
You won't have anything to say again. You'll never have anything
to say again. When Christ, listen, started
this thing with me, and He did. He started this thing with us.
I know that He never could see anything in me to love. There
was nothing in me to love. And I'm equally sure He cannot
see anything in you to love. But God could see His Son. And God looked upon His Son,
and in mercy, pure mercy, and free grace, He chose you to be
in His Son. and he loved you in him. And that's what all of this is
about. God loving you in the person of another and being merciful
to your unrighteousness and your sin and not remembering it ever
again. I do know now that he loves me. that love is in christ mike mentioned
that a week or two ago it's in christ that's where it is he
loves me in his son he got reason to if i'm in jesus he's got reason
to love me because jesus ought to be loved he ought to be loved
he's righteous he's perfect and i will say this too although
i am the worst sinner in this building i do love the lord i
do love the lord for what he's done for me I do love Him. I must love Him. I have to love
Him for free grace. I must love Him. And I do love
Him. And I turn my ugly face towards
the Lord each day. And I don't say a word in my
defense. Not one word do I say in my defense. I don't offer any excuses. The
Lord knows the way that I take. And the Lord knows that I got
nothing to say about myself. I don't have a thing to say.
I'm not any longer trying to show the Lord something about
me that he doesn't know, that there was some secret about me
that made me a better deal for him than what he knew about. I'm not trying to tell God anything. My mouth is shut. I mean, there
ain't a word in my mouth. I ain't nothing I can say. The
Lord Jesus, I'll let him do the talking for me. I'll let him
do the talking for me. He said, Father, I live for that
person. I live for him by charism. I
lived a perfect life for that man. And I died for that man's
place. I died for his sin. And I'll
tell you what, if the worst sinner in here can get to heaven through
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, then the rest of you can come,
the rest of you can go through Christ. Trust him. and come to
the Lord Jesus Christ now then we've been made beautiful through
his comeliness so blessed be his name blessed be his name
and throughout eternity I think we'll get together these huge
horrible ugly sinners don't you think we will get together in
eternity and we'll talk about how merciful God was that he
said, well, there's a son of Adam over there and I'll just
take him in. I'll do everything for him that
has to be done that he can be glorified together with me. I'll
fix him up. I'll fix him up. So that not
even God can find anything wrong with him. I'll fix him up. did
you think we'll talk about that don't you think we'll be a little
bit more appreciative of the grace of god get over there don't
you think so i don't think we will i don't think we know a
fraction about sin and grace i don't think we know much about
it i hope after this morning that we have our heart full and
i hope i hope i hope that our mouths will be shut Father, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, I do pray that you'll own this message. I do
pray that some poor sinner will take comfort. I do pray that
your poor afflicted children might be lifted up and they might
be encouraged. Oh, to know that you're pacified
toward us. To know that you're not angry
with us. To know that you made this covenant with one who will
not fail. and that he's held up our end. He's took our end of the stick
and he held it up. And he's not going to fail. Thank
you. Thank you, blessed Lord Jesus. Thank you from the depths
of my heart. Thank you from a sinner. I send
thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.

A Full Heart And Closed Mouth

What does the Bible say about God's grace?

How do we know God's mercy is true?

Why is understanding sin and grace important for Christians?

What is the everlasting covenant of grace?

Sermon Transcript

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A Full Heart And Closed Mouth

What does the Bible say about God's grace?

How do we know God's mercy is true?

Why is understanding sin and grace important for Christians?

What is the everlasting covenant of grace?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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