I've entitled the message for
tonight, The Sure Mercies of David. Now, in the passage of
scripture, I just read God was speaking to his son when he said,
I'll give you the sure mercies of David. But when he speaks
to his son, he's speaking to everybody in his son. When he says, I'll give you the
sure mercies of David. Now turn to Isaiah 55, where
this is first said, verse three, Isaiah 55. Incline your ear. Would to God that me and you
would do that just now. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live
and I will make. an everlasting covenant with
you. I'm interested in that, aren't
you? Even the sure mercies of David. Now let's look at the
beginning of this chapter. This is God speaking. And he
begins with the word, hope. And that gets my attention. That's
an intention-getting statement. Ho! That he would say this to
sinners is amazing. Ho! Listen up. Oh, would to God that you and
I would be enabled by the grace of God to listen to what he is
saying. Ho! Now, who's he speaking to? Well, look at the context. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. He that hath no money. Look down in verse seven of this
same chapter. Let the wicked forsake his way. Notice not his ways, his way,
the way of salvation by your doings. And the unrighteous man,
his thoughts. My thoughts are wrong thoughts. And this is who he's speaking
to, the wicked, the unrighteous, those who have No money, those
who are thirsty. This is who he condescends to
say ho to and notice ho everyone that thirsteth. Now, I have never, I've heard
of people who were close to dying of thirst. I've never been there.
I've been thirsty. but I've never been in a position
where I thought I was gonna die of thirst. I might have said
it. In fact, I probably say it all the time. I'm dying of thirst
or I'm dying because it's too hot in here. I say that to Lynn
all the time. And she says that, but not really. But what is this
thing of thirst? Thirst is a conscious lack and
a great need. a conscious lack and a great
need. And I know this much about thirst. You cannot quench your own thirst,
can you? Your body can't produce what
is needed to quench your thirst. It must come from outside of
you. Your body cannot produce water. And we know precisely what this
thirst is for. The Lord tells us in Matthew
chapter five, verse five, blessed are they who hunger and thirst
after righteousness. Now this is what this thirst
is all about. It's a thirst, a conscious lack, and a great
need, and knowing that this is not something you can produce
yourself. It must come from without side of you. It's a thirst for
righteousness. You see, the reason we thirst
for righteousness is we are aware that we do not have any. Are you aware of that? Isaiah
was. He said in Isaiah chapter 64,
verse six, our righteousnesses are what? As filthy. And the word filthy is minstrels,
rags. That is God's estimation of our
righteousness. That is our own estimation of
our righteousness. Filthy rags. I understand what
Paul meant when he said, oh, that I may win Christ and be
found in him, not having. my own righteousness. I don't
want to have anything to do with that. You know why? Because it's
filthy rags. That's why I don't want to have
anything to do with it. Not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, which is according to my law keeping, because I
know all that is, is filthy rags. But, that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith. Now that's the righteousness
I'm interested in. A righteousness that God is satisfied
with because it's the righteousness of God. Not human righteousness. Not filthy rag righteousness.
Not something that comes from me. But the very righteousness
of God. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now this is the righteousness
we thirst for if we thirst for righteousness. His. You have
a great desire to have his righteousness because you know if God's taught
you anything, you know that you have no personal righteousness
and how you desire his. The Lord said, if any man thirst,
let him come to me and drink. Drink of this righteousness that
he's speaking of. Whoso drinketh of this water,
this physical water, shall thirst again. Now there's so much in
that statement. You take anything that this world
has to offer, and you may be satisfied temporarily, but you
will thirst again. But whoso drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I
shall give him shall be a well springing up unto everlasting
life. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. So here's
who he's speaking to. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. Me and you are called upon to
come to the waters. Now, what he says next, he that hath no money, and this
is a requirement to have your thirst quenched, he that hath
no money. You're excluded if you do. But
you realize that if only one penny worth of righteousness
is required from you, if there's something that you need to do
in order for you to be saved, and you won't be saved unless
you're enabled to do that, you won't be saved. You don't have
a penny's worth of righteousness. And this is the man, this is
the woman he calls to himself. He that hath no money. You don't have anything to recommend
you to God. You don't have one work. You don't have one thought.
You don't have anything that can recommend you to God. You
got no money. He that hath no money, come ye. This is the person who He commands
to come. Now, if you fit this description,
you have no money, you're thirsty, and you have no money, no way
of quenching your thirst, He commands you. This is your right
to come, He commands you to. Come ye. Now you can't take the
promise to yourself unless you fit the character of the one
the promise is made to. And what is the character of
the one this promise is made to? Come ye for water. One who is thirsty, thirsting
for righteousness, know they can't produce it, and they don't
have anything to pay for it with. They have no way they can come
into God's presence. Now, look what he says in verse
one. Come ye, buy and eat. You who have no money, come ye,
buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Now, milk, the universal food. When a woman has a child, all
that child needs is milk. That milk covers everything. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, Of him
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Do you need anything
else? No, you don't need anything else. Come buy milk. Come buy wine. What is wine? Well, the scripture says, wine
maketh the heart glad. This has something to do with
the good news of the gospel. Come without any money, without
any price, we're reminded that. You don't have anything you can
give. Come buy wine and milk. That's the completeness of the
gospel. That's the joy of the gospel. You see, the gospel is
good news. It's not something, I agree with
that, well, so what? Do you rejoice in that? Does
it come as good news to you, good news from a far country?
Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. This is a reminder to us once
again, we don't have to bring anything. You know, if I said
you could have salvation for $1,000, you'd figure out a way
to get it, wouldn't you? I had no question about that.
And you'd find a way to get it for your kids and for your loved
ones if you could have salvation for $1,000. But there is no price
free. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Now, when a salesman sells his
product, he is attempting to get us up to his price. but the
Lord brings us down to his price. Free, free, free. There's not one thing you need
to bring. God's salvation is utterly free. There's only one person that
that's going to be good news to, somebody that doesn't have
anything to pay. Romans 3, 24, being justified,
literally having been justified, this is what Christ does. He
makes me just before His Father, without guilt, without sin. That's
what Christ accomplished on the cross, being justified freely
by His grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. The Lord doesn't need to find
a reason in me to give it to me because it's utterly free. Now, why is this thing of something
so great as salvation free? You think of what is involved
in salvation, me being a son of God, having God for me. If God be
for us, who can be against us? If I'm saved, that means I'm
justified. I can't get, you know, I love
thinking about this, I stand before God. If I'm saved, if
the Lord's done something for me, I stand before God without
guilt, righteous through and through. You see, justification
is not a covering for your sin, but the sin's still there. No,
if I'm justified, I have no sin. Sanctified, a holy nature. made accepted in the Beloved,
the forgiveness of all my sins, God's Spirit, God preserving
me, my end is to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ, to be
in heaven, to be worshiping Him, to no longer have to deal with
sin. What a glorious thing heaven
is, to be with Him, to see His face. Now, how can such a glorious
Thing of salvation, be free. Well, first of all, it was very
costly to God. He spared not his own son. But why is it free to us? First
of all, because of the character of the giver. Oh, how he delights in giving. I love that scripture. It's more
blessed to give than to receive. You know that scripture. It's
more blessed. This is what the Lord said. It's more blessed
to give than to receive. Who's gonna be the more blessed?
You or the Lord? He's the more blessed, isn't
he? Me and you, we receive of his bounty, but this is because
the character of God, he delights in mercy. He delights in mercy. It's free because of the pricelessness
of the gift. To try and pay for the gift is
the greatest insult you can give to God. That's the greatest insult. And you show such a low view
of the gift if you think there's anything you can pay. All you're
doing is debasing the gospel down to your level. The greatest
insult you can give to God is to say, I wanna pay for this.
I don't wanna be your debtor, I wanna pay for this. Here's
my two cents worth. It's free because of the poverty
of those to whom it's given. None of them have anything to
pay. If it's not free, I won't have
it. One of the glories of the gospel
is that If you have anything to pay, you're excluded. This is the one thing, the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ that really is free. Now look what the Lord says.
He says, come ye buy. Look at that language. Now that's
unusual language, isn't it? Because if you buy, it seems
like you gotta have something to pay for it with, but you don't.
It's free, he's already made this This is known, it's free,
but he says, come and buy. Come and buy. You know, we're all consumers. We buy stuff, don't we? Now we
know that the gospel, there's nothing that I have that can
pay for it. He's already made this clear,
but this thing of buying. What do you do when you buy something? Well, number one, whatever it
is you're buying, you want it. There's a desire for it. If you
didn't desire it, you wouldn't want to buy it in the first place.
Number two, for you to have it, you're going to have to agree
with the terms. You can't say, well, I'm not giving that for
it. No, you agree with the terms. And what are the terms? Nothing
from you. All of you. You agree with the
terms. And you know what you do when
you buy something? When you buy something and it's paid for and it's paid
for in a just way, you don't say, well, I can't take it. No,
it's yours now, isn't it? It's yours. It belongs to you. This great salvation that he
gives actually belongs to you. I am my beloved's and he is mine. Come buy wine and milk. without money and without price. Now look what he says in verse
two. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread? And you labor for that which
satisfies not. Now the Lord asks us a question,
a twofold question. Why do you spend your money on
that which is not bread? Now, if I'm going to get something
to eat tonight, if I'm going to a restaurant, I'm not gonna
order a piece of cardboard and rocks. or paper. There's no nutritional
value in that. It won't do me any good at all.
I want something that'll do me good. Why would you spend your
money on that which really doesn't do anything for you? The only
thing that does anything for me or you is the gospel, the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why would you spend your
money on that which is poison, that which will do you absolutely
no good, and for that which satisfieth not? You all know what it is to eat,
not be satisfied. It's not a good feeling, is it?
Frustrating. You don't find satisfaction. Maybe there wasn't enough of
it, maybe it didn't taste good, maybe it wasn't what you were
in the mood for, but everybody knows what it is to, when you
eat, you're not satisfied and you're kind of frustrated. I'm
real bad that way. If I don't like what's, I hate going to
a restaurant and paying money for it and then I don't like
the food, I'm not satisfied, I'm upset. I want something good
that satisfies me. Now, why would you eat, speaking
of the gospel, that which does not satisfy? Now the only thing
that satisfies any sinner is that which God is satisfied with. We can only find satisfaction
in that which God himself is satisfied with. And what is that?
That is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall see the
travail of his soul, father, son, and spirit. He shall see
the travail of his soul and be satisfied. God is satisfied with
what Christ did. He's completely, infinitely satisfied
with what Christ did, with who Christ is. There isn't anything
else that's needed. God's satisfied. When you try
to come into God's presence with your own works, you're saying
to Him, well, you're not satisfied with what your son did. You need
something else. You're saying, I'm not satisfied with what your
son did. I need something else. No, why
would you spend your money on that which satisfies not? The
only thing that's satisfied is it is finished. You are complete. Now that word complete, the word
are is a verb. It's in the present tense right
now. You are complete. It's in the perfect tense, perfectly
filled up. You can't get any more saved
than you are. You can't get any more love. You can't get any
more accepted than you are in Christ Jesus. Now you know what
that does for me? Satisfies me. I'm not looking for anything
else. Gotta be something else. You just ain't seen it. If I
ever hear the gospel, I'll be plump, satisfied with it, and
I won't want anything else. Hearken, he says in verse two
in the latter part, diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Now, if you incline your ear,
verse three, he says, incline your ear, bend down. You know, when you incline, you're
stretching, you're bending. You're saying, speak Lord, thy
servant heareth. I wanna hear what's being said.
Incline your ear and come unto me here and your soul shall live
and I will make. an everlasting covenant with
you. Now, when we read about it in
Acts chapter 13, he's speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ. But
here he's speaking to everyone that's thirsty, everyone that
has nothing to pay, everyone that is unrighteous and wicked. That's who he's speaking to.
And he says, I'll make with you an everlasting covenant. Even the sure mercies of David. Now, what are these sure mercies
of David? Well, turn with me to 2 Samuel
23. Verse one. Now these be the last words of
David. David's dying, and David knows
it. And these are his last words. Now what is David going to be
thinking about? What is David going to be saying?
Well, I'm sure he could have thought about Bathsheba, and
Uriah, his adultery, his murder, a whole lot of other things. I mean, David committed a lot
of sins, just like you and I have. He could have been thinking about
all of his wrongdoing. I can imagine when you're dying,
I can imagine that coming up. You're thinking about, oh, I
wish. But you know something else? David could have thought
about Him being used by God to destroy Goliath and defeat the
entire nation of the Philistines. He could have been thinking about
many ways in which the Lord used him. He's the sweet psalmist
of Israel. I think it's interesting, if
that's the word to use, how that David, God placed him into a
position of being the most powerful man in the world. The scripture
actually says every, the fear of David, The fear of David. They were scared to death of
him. The fear of David fell upon every nation. Now that's how
special this man was. Yes, he was a sinful man, just
like you and I are. He's the one who said, my sin
is ever before me. And he meant it. He understood
that. But he was also a man greatly
used of God. He was the sweet psalmist of
Israel. He's the one who wrote the Psalms.
He's the mighty David, the one who killed 10,000, Saul's killed
thousands, but David has killed 10,000. He could have been thinking
about the bad stuff, he could have been thinking about the
good stuff. But what does he speak of? Down
in verse 35, or verse five. Although my house be not so,
with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, eternal, ordered in all things, and sure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow. Now, here are David's last words. Although my house be not so with
God." Now, first of all, he was talking about his house, his
children, his wives. He shouldn't have had wives,
but he did, and they caused him so much trouble. You know, after
the Incident with Uriah, the Lord told David in no uncertain
terms, the sword shall never depart from thy house. And you
know, it didn't. I mean, after one trial was over
with one son, Absalom, then all of a sudden the other one revolts
again. He had such continual trouble
in his house. Although my house be not so with
God. He realized it's all my fault. Although my house be not so with
God. And I have no doubt that he was
talking also about this house, this house, this house of clay,
this house of sin, this house of weakness. It was David who
said, my sin is ever before me. There's not a time when it is
not. My sin, is ever before me. Now, although my house, my family,
most especially this house, be not so with God. David was so painfully aware
And I am, too, of a sinful, fallen nature that's with me at all
times. I'm never free from that. You
know, when you're enabled to look to Christ and rejoice, it's
so great. You don't want to do anything
else. But as soon as you start thinking
about how great it is, all of a sudden your flesh reminds you
of who you are. Although my house, it's always
there. Although my house be not so with
God, yet. In spite of all that is what
he's saying. Although my house be not so with
God, yet. It's kind of the same thing as
Ephesians 2. You are by nature children of
wrath even as others, but God, but God. Yet, although my house
be not so with God, yet, in spite of that. I remember one time
hearing a, I think it was Rolf Barnard, it was a message I was
listening to, and he said, the definition of grace is in spite
of. I like that, don't you? In spite
of. Although my house be not so with
God, yet, what does it say? He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Now there's no understanding
of the gospel without some understanding of the everlasting covenant. God's only made two covenants.
The covenant with Adam in the garden. Eat of the fruit, you'll
die. Well, what about the Levitical
covenant and the Mosaic covenant? Well, they're just variations
of the same thing. Salvation dependent upon you. There's only been two covenants.
The one he made with Adam in the garden. Don't eat of the tree. When you
do, you'll die. But there was a covenant he made
before that covenant. That's the covenant he made with
his son and everybody in his son before the foundation of
the world. Now, the reason this covenant
is ordered in all things and sure is because it was made before
time began. There's an everlasting nature
to it from the God who cannot change. You see, everything with
regard to salvation is eternal. Eternal redemption, eternal inheritance,
eternal salvation, It's all eternal because God is eternal. And if it wasn't eternal, that
would be a denial of the immutability of God. It would be a denial
of the character of God. That's what's at stake here.
the eternal nature of salvation. He saved us, he called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now somebody says, why do you
gotta talk about eternity when we can't understand it? Because
it's in the Bible. Is that enough of a reason? Of
course you can't understand eternity, but you can believe it. God is
eternal. Nobody ever made him, and everything
he does is eternal. His will is eternal, his purpose
is eternal, his salvation is eternal, never had a beginning.
Although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me
an everlasting covenant. Let me show you what this covenant
looks like. Would you turn to Hebrews chapter eight? Verse seven. For if that first covenant, the
covenant of works, had been faultless, Hebrews 8, 7, if that first covenant
had been faultless, then should he no place have been sought
for the second, for finding fault with them. He saith, behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Jacob, not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt. You know, if God takes you by
the hand and leads you out of a place, you know what's no different? Your heart. You might've changed
places. Kind of like that little boy,
when his mother told him to sit down, he said, I'm standing up
on the inside. Well, that's whatever one of
us do by nature. We might have our hand, the Lord take our hand
and put us in the right position, but it doesn't change the heart.
Let's go on reading. Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they
continued not in my covenant and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.
I will put my laws into their mind. And notice laws is in the
plural. People say, well, God's law is
written on our hearts. Ten commandments are written
on our hearts. Well, they are. They're written on the heart
of every unbeliever. Every unbeliever has the law of God written on
their heart. Every unbeliever knows the difference
between right and wrong. And they may, through sin, through
rebellion, their conscience might become dead, and they can get
to where they can't see the difference, but everybody's born into this
world with the law of God written on their heart. And that's why
I think it's so crazy when people say, we need to be taught to
live. You already know how to live. Everybody in here, you already
know how to live. Teach us to live. That's just religious tommyrot,
is what that is. No, you've got the law written
in your heart, and you know. the difference, but he says laws.
You know what that's talking about? Well, in the scripture,
you have the law of faith, you have the law of love, you have
the law of sin. There's six of them, but the
point is, God writes these things in your heart. Now, you cannot
not believe. You've got the law of faith.
You've got the law of sin. You can't see yourself with anything
but a sinner. You've got the law of love. You love Christ.
You can't help it. You love God's way of salvation.
You've got the law of liberty. You must be free. You can't handle
any works or laws placed upon you. You can't deal with that.
You must be free. And God places his laws in the
heart. It's regeneration. Now let's
go on reading. I write them in their hearts
and I'll be to them a God. You know what that means? It means God's for you. If God
be for us, who can be against us. And they shall be to me a
people, and they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every
man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for all shall know
me from the least to the greatest. And here's why, he's the one
who teaches. For I will be merciful, propitious to their unrighteousness. I'll put their sin away, and
their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Now that's the everlasting covenant. And notice David says, although
my house be not so with God yet, hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things. That covers everything. There
isn't any part of the salvation of any believer that isn't completely
accomplished already, present tense, right now. You are complete
in Christ. Nothing to be competitive about.
Every believer is the same. We're all one in Christ Jesus. There's no male or female or
bond or free. We're all one in Christ Jesus.
No need for me to be jealous of you. I've already got everything.
You've got everything too. And we rejoice in that. Ordered. by God in all things and sure. How sure? It's all historical. It's all
accomplished. It's not something that's to
be grasped for. It's what I have right now. It's already been done when the
Lord said it is finished. Sure. And David said, this is
all my salvation. This everlasting covenant. Ordered
in all things and sure he didn't say this most my salvation said
it's all my salvation Every bit of it and every believer in here
says yes. Amen. This is all my salvation,
too Not only is it all my salvation. I Don't want anything else It's
all my desire. I Don't want anything else It's
all my desire. I And then he ends this statement
with regard to these sure mercies with this kind of odd statement,
though he makes it not to grow. Now, why would he end there?
Because you gotta admit, that doesn't sound, that's hard to get hold of, isn't
it? Though he makes it not to grow. Don't we grow in grace?
We better. Don't we grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? We better. Where there's
life, there's growth. Every one of us ought to be growing
in humility, in faith, in love to Him, in the fruit of the Spirit,
in the Beatitudes. Sure, there's growth. Grow in
grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So why does David say this? though he makes it not to grow.
Is he saying, well, I'm just the worst of all God's people,
and I'm just not growing? Well, you know, he might have
thought that. I wouldn't say he didn't. Do you ever feel that
way, that you're the worst of God's people, and when it comes
to growth, you don't see any growth? You seem like you're
going backwards instead of forwards. But what he meant by that is
this salvation knows no growth. You can't get any better than
this everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. You can't add to that. You can't
increase that. It does not become better. Now this was the desire of David. This was the last words of David,
these are the sure mercies of David. Although my house be not
so with God, and every believer here and here can say that, they
know exactly what he means. Although my house be not so with
God, yet, hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, made
before the foundation of the world, And it's ordered in all
things and it is sure. Because my hand's not in on it.
It wouldn't be sure if there was something I had to do to
make it work. But it's sure because Christ made it sure. It is finished. This is all my salvation. This
is all my desire. Though he makes it not to grow.
And we're going to observe the Lord's table. The bread is in paper cups, just
pick up a paper cup. After you're finished with it,
water it up, put it in your pocket or put it somewhere. Don't throw
it on the floor at any rate. And what a blessing to observe
the Lord's table in obedience to his command. I'm so thankful
we haven't done this in, I suppose, about six months. I think it
was the first of March, the last time we did this. And may the
Lord enable us to feed on this wine and milk without money and
without price. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the gospel
of our Redeemer. Lord, let us by faith eat his
flesh and drink his blood and find our all in him. How we thank you for this everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. In Christ's name we
pray. Amen.