Now I want you to turn in your
Bibles to Psalm 45. Psalm 45. This is called a song of love. A song of love. Now this message will be heard
by you who are here tonight who listen. And it will be heard also by
as many more people as are here tonight through the tape ministry. We send out literally hundreds
of these tapes and they'll be shared with many, many people. And at the beginning of the message,
I want to tell you something. that you need to consider. Now,
the title of the message is the title of the psalm, A Song of
Love, A Song of Love. And David begins in this fashion.
He said, My heart, my heart. I remember one time many years
ago, God blessed Brother Ralph Barnard to be a blessing to He was a rough teacher, putting
it mildly. But I had the privilege of hearing
him and God-given common sense of listening to him. I listened
to him. I didn't like what I heard many
times, but I did listen. And sometimes, after I listened
to him, I had to go off somewhere and consider what he told me. But one time after one of my
friends had preached, he turned to me and he said, I'm so tired
of people preaching to my head, I wish some of you fellows would
start preaching to my heart. And he said, I'm also tired of
hearing men preach out of their heads. I wish some of them would
preach out of their hearts. Well, that's what David is saying
here. He says, my heart is indicting a good matter. My heart is bubbling
up, overflowing, full and overflowing with a good thing. Now, unfortunately,
this has been my experience. Unfortunately, it's the experience
of many, many of you. I can tell you what happened.
I can tell you what happened in your spiritual growth. Most of you have experienced
three stages of growth. It's not always required and
it's not necessary, but it's our experience. Not all of you,
but many of you. This has been my experience personally. God's people, many of them, become
involved in religion first. They become involved in religion.
That was my experience. I got involved in religion. My
parents raised me in church like yours did. This church or that
church or the other church, it doesn't matter. Church is church,
religion is religion, Christ is Christ. But most of us had
this experience. We had a religious tradition,
religious customs. We followed in our lives a religious
pattern. some with much zeal, some with
little zeal. But nevertheless, we were in
religion and in its tradition. And then we learned, some of
us learned some doctrine, which was true, true doctrine, good,
sound, solid, puritanical doctrine. We learned some good old doctrine. And then, by God's grace, some
came to learn and love Christ. That's right, isn't that right?
Came to learn and to love Christ. In other words, we went this
route from hand to head to heart. This is where it is. David said
here's where it is, it's in the heart. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Some folks stop with a hand and
they stay there. Labor, labor, labor. Work, work,
work. Zeal, zeal, zeal. They're still
at it. They're still in it. We have folks here that are still
in it. And then some go on to logic
and doctrine. And that's where they camp. They're
content with the doctrine. It's dry, it's cold, and it's
dead. But they're content there. They
like to argue. They like the doctrines. They
like to share the doctrines and they camp there. But oh, I tell
you, the sweet feels of clover when you come to know his love
and you come to love him. When this thing of your relationship
with God is no longer a profession, it is now a person. Not a myth,
not a historical character, but a person. the real living Lord
who dwells in your heart. Know what I'm talking about?
From religion to doctrine to love in Christ. Love in Christ
and live in Christ. From hand and zeal to head and
doctrine and then the heart and devotion. It's also described in this way,
from labor to logic to love. Where are we tonight? You know,
this is where, this is what Peter experienced, the Apostle Peter.
I got to thinking about this as I prepared this message, and
I prepared it. When I looked at this text, it
says my heart is indicting a good matter, and I prepared it out
of my own heart experience. This is the route by which God
brought me. I hope you don't have to come
this route. I said it's not required, it's not necessary, but it's
human nature. We play with our toys, and then we philosophize,
and then we fall in love. But old Peter came this route.
He was going to build some tabernacles. Don't you remember when the Lord
was on the Mount of Transfiguration? And his clothes glistened, and
the glory of God appeared, and the voice from heaven spake,
and said, This is my son, hear ye him. And Peter said, Let's
build some churches up here on this hill. Let's build three
tabernacles. Let's build one for the law,
and one for the prophets, and one for Jesus. And camp here. Let's don't leave. Let's stay
here and start building. That's the hand. That's the labor.
And then Peter would die for what he believed. He said, when
things got in trouble and the Lord said he was going to die,
he said, I'll just die with you. I'll just die with you. He said,
no, all of you will be offended because of me. Not me. I'll die
for what I believe. I'll die for what I believe.
And then he wanted to cut some heads off. Do you remember in
the garden? He drew his sword. He was going
to cut some heads off. And finally the Lord brought
him. He brought him from the building, laboring stage to the
contending for the doctrine and for what he believed and even
to the point of slaying folks. One evening down by the seashore
they sat down. And he looked over at him and
he said, Do you love me? Do you love me more than these? Not more than these disciples.
Our Lord never sets his people one against another. He never
says, Mike, do you love me more than Ronnie? He wouldn't do that.
But he says, do you love me more than these? And he looked at
the fishing boats and the nets and all these other things in
which Peter was involved. All these things. And he said,
do you love me more than these? And Peter said, I love you. He
said, will you feed my lambs? motivated by a love for me. Whatever
you do, do it because you love me. And I'll tell you, those
are the willing servants who do it because they love Christ.
They do it from a motive not of Not of receiving something
in return, but do it just because they love Christ. He said when
you lend, lend hoping for nothing in return. When you give, give
for hoping for nothing in return. Give and lend just because you
love Jesus Christ. And he asked him again, he asked
him the third time, and Peter was grieved that he asked him
the third time. And he said, Lord, you know all things. You
know I love you. He said, well, feed my sheep
if you love me. I'd like to attend an ordination
service sometime when the questionnaire asks the prospective preacher
if he loved the Lord Jesus Christ. They ask him every other question.
They ask him, do you have doctrine? Do you have this? Do you have
that? Do you have a call? Do you have experience? Our Lord,
before he sent Peter out to preach, he asked him only one question.
He said, do you love me? Do you love me? Then you'll feed
my sheep. The psalmist is saying here,
look at it, my heart is bubbling up, my heart is full and running
over with a good matter, with good news, with glad tidings,
with a good matter. And it's pertaining, I speak
of things which I have made touching or pertaining to the King. My
heart is full and bubbling up and running over as touching
or things pertaining to the King. You know, you men who speak and
other preachers whom I hear, what a temptation it is to speak
of our person. What we believe and what we think.
What a temptation to speak of our person. Paul said, I preach
not myself, I preach Christ. But our person is such an empty
subject in the light of the person of Christ Jesus. My heart is
bubbling up and full and running over as touching things pertaining
to the King. That's what he's saying. What
a temptation to speak of our positions, what we believe, what
doctrines we hold, what things are important to us as great
thinkers and theologians. But how dry and dead and cold
are our books and our sermons in the light of his person. My
heart is bubbling up, full and running over, considering things
pertaining to the king. Listen to this, and my tongue,
because my heart is bubbling up and running over, then my
tongue is the pen of a ready writer. I'm ready because my
heart loves him, and my heart is full of Christ, and my heart
is rejoicing in things pertaining to Christ, I'm ready to preach
Christ. I'm ready to talk about Christ.
Paul said that, he said, I preach Christ and Him crucified. I am
determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. My heart is indicting
a good matter. You know something? Somebody
comes up and says, that was a good sermon. What makes a sermon a
good sermon? What makes a sermon is a good
sermon if Christ is the theme, because he's the good thing.
My heart is indicting a good matter. That was a good deed. It was a good deed only if Christ
is the motivator. He's a good man only if he's
in Christ. That was a good service. We had
a good service last night only if our hearts were turned to
Christ. This is where the issue is determined. My heart is bubbling
up, my heart is overflowing, my heart is indicting a good
matter because I speak of the things which pertain to the King. And my heart makes my tongue
the pen of a ready writer. Let's see what he says about
Christ, verse 2. He says the King is fairer than the children
of men. He's the fairest among ten thousand. The hymn writer says, None with
him can compare among the sons of men. Fairer is he than all
the fair who fill the heavenly train. He is fairer than the children
of men. Grace is poured into or from his lips. Therefore God
hath blessed thee forever. Verse 3, he says this about the
king, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, O most
mighty, he is the most mighty, with glory and majesty, the very
glory of God is beheld in his face, and none can stay his hand
or say unto him, what doest thou? O most mighty, my king is most
mighty, the sovereign king. And verse 4, and in majesty he
rides prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. He rides prosperously in the
forefront with these things. He is the truth. He is our righteousness
and with humility and his right hand shall teach these terrible
things. Verse 5. Thine arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall before
thee." All of his enemies shall fall before him. God said, come
up here and sit on my right hand, and I'll make your enemies your
footstool. That's my king. And verse 6,
this is quoted in Hebrews 1. God speaks to the son, and he
says, Thy throne, O God. Thy throne, O God. is forever. He is God, and as God his throne
is forever. And the scepter of thy kingdom
is what? A right scepter that is its righteousness. That scepter by which he rules
his kingdom is the scepter of holiness and righteousness. Look
at verse 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and
Thou hatest wickedness. Therefore God Thy God hath anointed
Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it
not robbery to be equal with God. Yet he made himself of no
reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore
God the Father highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that he is Lord
in heaven, earth, and under the earth to the glory of God. Thou
lovest righteousness, verse 7, hatest wickedness, therefore
God, thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh,
alloys, cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made
thee glad. King's daughters were among thy
honorable women. Upon thy right hand did stand
the queen in gold of Orpher. Hearken, O daughter, and consider,
and incline thine ear, for get also thine own people in thy
father's house. So shall the king greatly desire
thy beauty, for he is thy Lord. What are you going to do? Forget
also thine own people. He that loveth father and mother
more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. Who will be the bride of
Christ? Who are the people of God? Forget also thine own people
and thy father's house. Turn from your idols to the living
God. So shall the King greatly desire
thy beauty, for He alone is thy Lord. and worship thou him. Paul at his footstool. There's
no halfway house to committal. This thing of discipleship is
a committal to Christ. This thing of discipleship, like
Ralph said one damn years ago, he said the doorway to the kingdom
of God is the lordship of Jesus Christ. He will not be Lord at
all if he's not Lord of all. That's all there is to it. You've got to forget your own
people and your father's house. You've got to be weaned from
these idols of the world. There's got to be a committal.
There's got to be a submission. There's got to be a surrender.
One man said one time in John chapter 1, Verse 12, it says,
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God. That word receive is submit. Submit, surrender. It's a committal. I don't think we have the right
at all to offer eternal glory and eternal salvation to a half-hearted
profession of faith and a half-hearted acceptance of Jesus Christ as
Savior. He is thy Lord. He is thy Lord. He is thy Lord. Worship Him. All right, verse
12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift, even
the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. The king's
daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. Here's his bride now. And she
shall be brought unto the King, to the Lord Jesus Christ, in
raiment of needlework. The virgins, her companions that
follow her, shall be brought unto thee. How is the King's
daughter, who is the bride of Christ, who is brought to him,
verse 13, she is all glorious within. Her clothing is pure. and of wrought gold. She shall
be brought to the king in raiment of needlework. In other words,
his bride shall be brought to him in holiness and purity and
righteousness. Not her own, but his. Not her
own, but his. And clothed in his robe of righteousness. That needlework which he wrought
out by his perfect obedience. That's how she's brought to him.
And then verse 15, with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought,
and they shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy
father shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. Therefore I will make thy name
to be remembered in all generations. Therefore shall the people praise
thee forever and forever. Now my eyes fell on one phrase. I love all of this. delight in
all of it. The Lord God, the Lord Jesus
Christ perished among the children of men, mighty with glory and
majesty, riding prosperously in the forefront with his meekness
and righteousness and truth. All his enemies before him as
a footstool, his hour piercing their hearts, he is God. He is
thrown as God is forever. He loves righteousness, therefore
the Lord God hath highly exalted him and given him a name above
every name. He is our Lord by decree, by
design, by death. His bride shall be brought to
him in perfect holiness and righteousness and purity and willingness. And
therefore shall all the people throughout the countless eons
of eternity praise his name forever. But here in verse 2, My eyes
fell on one phrase out of all of these words of praise and
glory, one phrase that speaks health and hope to my soul and
causes my heart to bubble up. It bubbles up and rejoices over
all of the attributes and characteristics and glory of my Lord. I'll tell
you, it bubbles up. And I know when I preach like
this to some of you, you come down and say how comforting that
was, what a help that was, what a good hope that is. But here's
the phrase. Here's the phrase. See if you
can pick it out of verse 2. Thou art fairer than the children
of men. Grace is poured from thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee
forever. When I think of us, and when
I talk, my heart is bubbling up and excited and full and running
over with his attributes and his glory, his might and power
and sovereignty and purity and holiness. But when I think of
us, I think of our weakness. I think of our sin. I think of
our guilt before him. I think of our darkness and our
depravity and our death. And I think what hope can we
have? This is Christ that I have described in his glory and beauty,
in his unapproachable beauty and glory. Here I am in my weakness
and shame and sin and filth and guilt. What hope can I have? How can I call him my bridegroom? How can I pronounce myself blessed
of him? Well, because of this, grace
is poured from his lips. Grace comes from His lips. This
thing of salvation, this union with Christ, this fellowship
with Christ is not something that I do for Him or something
I let Him do for me. It's something He out of His
grace and mercy and willingness and love has given to me. It
literally flows from His mouth, from His lips. This grace flows
from His lips. And there are four comforting
words I want to leave you with. Here they are. First of all,
as our eternal surety, as my eternal surety, grace pours from
his lips. Now according to the scriptures,
there is an everlasting covenant. I read all the time about the
covenant and I read about the everlasting covenant. That everlasting
covenant of grace and mercy. And I paraphrase here, and I'm
not sure that I ought to do this, but you know the Lord uses words
that men understand. He said, the Lord is not a man
that he should repent. On another occasion he said,
it repenteth God that he made man. You remember that? He speaks
as a man. He comes down to Cain and says,
where is your brother? These are words of men. So I
put this in the words of a man. This is the way I think of this.
Back in the beginning, back before the foundation of the world.
Back before the earth existed. Back before, as they say, the
morning stars sang together. The Father purposed in an everlasting
covenant, He chose to have a people. And He chose those people in
Christ. And He determined that those
people would be like Christ. And He gave them to Christ. And
our Lord Jesus Christ, in that covenant of mercy, assumed all
responsibility for us. Back yonder, way back yonder,
this one first among ten thousand, this one who rides forth with
truth and majesty and righteousness and glory and honor and sovereignty,
this one that loves holiness and righteousness, right there,
in that covenant of mercy, he spoke for me. and grace poured
from his lips. And he said, My Father, I assume
and I take full responsibility for every sheep in that covenant. I will assume their nature. I
will become flesh. I will meet your law perfectly. I will take all their guilt and
all their shame in my body, and honor thy justice, and suffer
thy wrath, and die for these people, and I will bring them
home, and I will present them holy, unblameable, unreprovable,
and faultless in thy presence, or you can hold me responsible."
Grace flowed from his lips. As I said, I don't know that
that conversation took place. God is not a man. But I'll tell
you over here in the book of Genesis chapter 43, for some
reason, in Genesis 43, for some reason, this illustration's here. And I can't think of any other
reason for it. You remember, you remember old
Jacob, had 12 sons. 10 of them, or 11 of them were
home. 11 of them were home. Joseph
was down in Egypt. And old Jacob thought Joseph
was dead. He thought he had been dead for
years. And you know how the boys went down to Egypt and found
corn, Joseph was down there, and how Joseph said to the brothers,
he didn't make himself known to the ten, ten went down there
and they left little Benjamin at home, the younger brother.
And Joseph recognized them, they didn't recognize him, and he
said to them, now if you come back for corn, bring your brother
with you. You say you got a brother, prove you got a brother, prove
you're not lying, bring him with you. So these ten fellas left
Egypt and they came home, they told Jacob, they said this king
down there in Egypt, they didn't know it was Joseph, said that
we were spies and we needn't come back for any more corn unless
we bring Benjamin with us. And Jacob said, no way, you're
not going to take Benjamin. Joseph's dead and then Reuben
was down in prison. Joseph is not, Reuben is not,
now you take Benjamin, know what? So things went from bad to worse.
And finally Judah. Now Judah is the tribe, the kingly
tribe of Israel. And Judah is the tribe from which
Christ came. You see, Christ is the high priest,
but not of the tribe of Levi, he was the tribe of Judah. Judah
is the kingly tribe. You see, God's word is so accurate
and so precise that Judah came from the kingly tribe. You see,
Christ came from the tribe of Judah, the root of Jesse, and
the house of David. I heard a preacher say on television
this morning, talking about Mary and Joseph. And they were, in
a sense, poor people. And they were, in a sense, unknown
people. But do you know Mary and Joseph were of the house
of David? Do you know Mary and Joseph were
the royal lineage of Israel? Like Scott said, they didn't
come in town on the back of a pickup truck. Mary and Joseph were of
the kingly tribe. Isn't that right, Charlie? Kingly tribe. were the royal lineage of Israel. They didn't come in town on the
back of a pickup truck. Mary and Joseph were of the kingly
tribe. Mary and Joseph were in line
for the throne of David if Israel had not been under the oppression
of the Romans. And Judah came, of the kingly tribe, he came
to Jacob, and look here at verse 8 of Genesis 43. And Judah said
unto Israel, that was Jacob, remember God changed his name
to Israel, they are no longer sheep but a prince of God. And
Judah said to Israel, his father, send the lad with me, put him
in my charge, and we'll arise and go that we may live and not
die, both we and thou and also our little one. I will be surety. I will be responsible. I will
be his guarantor. You can put him in my hands. Of my hands shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, you let me bear the blame forever. That's what that first surety
Example, illustration, Paul, that's what he said. And that's
Christ speaking. Back yonder in the covenant of
mercy, I tell you this, salvations of the Lord. And where back yonder
in the covenant of mercy, my surety stood, this one of whom
I've been speaking, of whom my heart is indicting a good matter,
things pertaining to the King. Back yonder, grace poured from
his lips. And he stood in the council halls
of eternity, and he said like Judah in Genesis 43, I'll take
the full responsibility of the redemption and the provisions
and the protection and the care of your sheep. And if I don't
bring every one of them home, let me bear the blame forever.
See how sure that is? That's grace pouring from the... All right, secondly, quickly,
turn to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy chapter 18. Now here's
my king, Deuteronomy 18. In Deuteronomy 18 it says, now
Moses is talking. I tell you a good way for you
to talk with people is do things, take the scripture like this.
If people question you about what you believe about Christ,
Deuteronomy 18, 15, just open it there and say now if you will
read verse 15. The Lord thy God, this is Moses
speaking, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet
from the midst of thee of thy brethren like unto me, unto him
you shall hearken. Verse 18. I will raise them up
a prophet. from among their brethren, like
unto thee, Moses, and I will put my words in his mouth, and
he shall speak unto them all that I command him, and it shall
come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which
he shall speak, I will require it of him." And then ask them,
who is that? Tell me who that is. Who is that?
That's Christ. I'll tell you this, I would like
to have heard Moses. What a prophet. I'd like to have
heard him. Oh, especially one time. I'd like to have been standing
behind a rock when there were all those people after his head
and hide, and the Red Sea was in front of them, and Pharaoh's
troops were thundering down upon them. And they said, you ought
to have left us in Egypt. Have you brought us out here
to die? That old man stood there, and he said, stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord. The only one there that believed
God. Only one. Stand still and see
the salvation of God. And then that old Red Sea just
parted and walled up on both sides. That would have been something. Tell you another thing I'd like
to have heard, a prophet. I'd like to have heard Elijah. on Mount Carmel. I'd like to
have been off hiding behind a tree somewhere when all those prophets
of Baal had cut themselves and screamed and cried and turned
flips and cartwheels and tried to get their false gods to perform
for them and it was just quiet and silence except their screams
and madness. And finally Elijah stepped forth
and built an altar He put the lamb on the altar and then he
said, bring some barrels of water. And they just soaked it. Bring
some more barrels. And they soaked it. Bring some more barrels.
And they soaked it. And water ran in the trenches and all over.
Soaking that altar was soaked with water. The wood was wet. The rocks were covered with wet.
And the lamb was wet. And the water was everywhere.
And then he stood there and he said 63 words. That's all. He said, Lord God, Let it be
known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am
thy servant, and that I have spoken these words at your command. Turn the hearts of the people
back to the old God. And the fire fell. John, I'd
love to have heard that prophet. Wouldn't you? I'll tell you another
one I'd like to have heard, another prophet. He was also a king. I'd like to have kind of been
standing behind the door when David got out his guitar and
sang the 23rd Psalm. In all of his times of distress
and trial and trouble and heartache and responsibilities, when he'd
sit and strum that guitar and sing, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. Wouldn't that have been wonderful
to hear that? But I have a prophet that I've
heard, more triumphant than Moses, greater than Elijah, and ten
thousand Elijahs, and sweeter than David. And never, never,
never man spake like this man. For when he spake, grace, truth,
flowed from his lips. And he said to the lame, take
up your bed and walk. And he said to the thirsty, come
unto me and drink. And he said to the guilty, that
no man condemn thee, neither do I. Go and sin no more. And he said to the sorrowing,
thy brother shall rise again. And he said to the hungry, I'm
the bread of life. And he said to the weary, come
unto me, I give you rest. And he said to the troubled,
my peace I give unto you, let not your heart be troubled. It
just flowed from his lips. And he said to the dead, come
forth. Grace flowed from his lips. I
heard the voice of Jesus say what Moses could never say, what
Elijah could never utter, what David could never write, come
unto me and rest. Lay down thy weary one, lay down
thy head on my breast. I came to him as I was, weary
and worn and sad. And I found, I found in him, not in religion,
not in my doctrine, but in him I found a resting place. And
he's made me glad. One other, listen. You know,
turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter 10. I love Hebrews. I believe, I told somebody one
time, I believe, I'm not sure about this now, but I believe
that I could spend the rest of my life preaching just from Hebrews. I believe I could. I believe
if God were to require me that I could feel as comfortable,
I could. See, it's just camping in Hebrews.
I don't know of any scripture that is a greater gospel book
than Hebrew. Or a greater revelation of the
work of Christ Jesus than Hebrew. And here in Hebrews 10, it talks
about the priesthood. I've heard grace fall from his
lips as my divine charity. I've heard grace fall from his
lips as my ordained prophet. And now watch this. Watch this.
In Hebrews 10, verse 1. All that unbending, uncompromising,
unyielding, precise, exact law. Having a shadow of good things
to come, and not the very image of those things, can never with
those sacrifices, so many of them, which they offered year
by year, and month by month, and day by day, continually make
the comers there unto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because if the worshippers wants
purged, sin wants atoned for, satisfied, honoured, justice,
honoured, we'd have no more conscience of sin. But in those many sacrifices,
and in those many priests, and in those many atonements, there's
a remembrance. Oh, remembrance again made of
sin every year. It's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats and heifers should take away sin. Wherefore
when he cometh into the world, he said. O God, sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not. The heart of God has never been
appeased or pleased or satisfied with any offering any man's ever
brought. The justice of God has never
been touched by all the offerings on Jewish sacrifices combined. Every atonement ever offered
put together has not put away one stain. Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body, a body hast thou prepared me. He tabernacled among us. God
built a tabernacle on this earth. Moses didn't build
this one, God did. He went on, he said in burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast never had any pleasure. Never had any pleasure. The only
purpose that these sacrifices served was as a picture and type
of Christ and to demonstrate the faith of the offerer. That's
all. No power in them, no strength
in them. That's right. Then said I, here
he is, once and for all, that one great high priest, that priest
who didn't come from Levi but from Judah. The king, the prophet,
priest, and king. That king, not like Abram, too
many failures in Abram, that king after the order of Melchizedek,
having no beginning or ending, that priest after the order of
Melchizedek, having no beginning or ending, no mother or father,
no beginning of days or end of days, a priest forever. That
great high priest of God said, Lord, I come! I come. I come." This is so gracious,
so comforting in the volume of the book. What's that book? We
said that book before you. You're right. It is that book
before me. In the volume of this book, it's
written of Him. You're right. You're not wrong
at all. You're right. But I've got a suspicion that
it's not this book that he's talking about entirely. You remember
in Revelation 5? And I'm supposed to speak on
this down in the West Indies in February. He said, I saw in
the hand of him that sat on the throne a book. A book. And he said, I wept because no
man could open that book. There was no one in earth, heaven,
or under the earth found worthy to open that book. And then the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, stepped forth
and took the book out of the hand of him that sat on the throne. And the elder said, fear not,
there's one who's worthy to open the book. And he opened it. It's not this book. You know
what that book is? That's the book of the decrees,
purposes, and counsel of God that only Christ can open, fulfill,
and satisfy, and bring its mercies to me. And that's what he's saying
here in the volume of that book. This book too. But that book,
Bob. It's written of me. I come to
do thy will, O God. Watch it now. I come to do thy
will. Skip down because he repeats
the same thing. Verse 10. I come to do thy will. By the which will? Whose will? Here we go. All the preachers,
the free will, man's will, my will, your will, I got it right. My priest says, O Lord God, he
speaks as grace flows from his lips on behalf of me, chained
in my darkness, lying in my deadness, sitting on my dunghill, incapacitated
and unable. And he says, sacrifice an offering
you've never had any pleasure. I come to do your will. It's
written in the book about me. I come to do that will of God,
that sovereign will of God, that eternal will of God, that covenant
will of God, that redeeming will of God by the which will we are
sanctified, made holy, redeemed by the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. That's the will I come to do. I'm the good shepherd. I lay
down my life for the sheep. I never heard these things when
I was going to church as a boy. He never dealt with these things.
All I ever heard is somebody say, you want to go to heaven?
You don't want to go to hell, do you? Yeah, I want to go to heaven. Don't
want to go to hell except Jesus. Well, they never told me who
he was. They never told me who he was. They never told me what
he did. They never even told me why he did it. I didn't know
why. I knew he came, didn't know why. I didn't know why. I can read
in here and find out why. My father, as making him the
surety, gave him a responsibility, and he took it. And he came down
here as the prophet and revealed it to me. And as my great high
priest, he did some doings before God. He carried on some conversations
with heaven, and he said, I come to do your will. And watch this,
and I'll close. As my intercessor, grace, poured
from his lips. You see that? And I put myself
in the place of these men that the Apostle Peter, oh bless his
heart, impulsive. You see him yonder? That weak,
poor, frail man. Simon Peter. There he stands. He thinks he's strong. He thinks
he's able. He thinks he's got the web of
the tail. He usually speaks for everybody
else. But there he stands, and Satan stands over here. He can't
see him. He can't see him. But our Lord
saw him. He saw that archenemy. He saw
that powerful one. And Satan said, let me have him.
Peter's there boasting about, I'll never leave you, I'll die
for you, I'll go with you to the cross, these other fellas
may quit, I'm, I'm, I'm, you hear him all the time. And Satan's
standing over, let me have him. Let me have him. I'll sift him. And my Lord turned to Peter and
he said, Peter, Satan hath desired thee that he might sift thee
as wheat, but I've prayed for you. My friend, you listen to
me. little babe, and the hand of
that adversary of God's people, that roaring lion who goeth about
seeking whom he may devour, is the Lord Jesus Christ and his
prayer. That's all. That's all. You needn't talk about what you
will do or won't do. You're standing there just like Peter, and Satan
says, let me have him. Lord, let me have him. You want
me to bring him down? I'll bring him down. Let me have
him. And the Lord said, Peter, I prayed
for you. And that's your only hope. The law says they're guilty.
My conscience says my sins are ever before me. But Christ said,
I've prayed for you. I will not let you go. Grace
just flows. You see why this is why I got
such a joy out of this passage. My heart is indicting a good
matter. I've just learned these things
lately. Seems like it. Seems like I just learned. Getting
too old too quick. smart too late to share these
things, to love him. My heart's indicting a good matter,
things pertaining to my king, to my prophet, to my priest,
and to my intercessor, who will not let me go. And you know the
problem is, my enemy is not only Satan, my enemy lives in here,
myself. Myself, I don't wrestle against
flesh and blood. It's principalities and powers
and rulers of the darkness. And I tell you, let's walk before
God in humility. Let's walk before God in submission. Let's walk before our God in
love. Let's walk before Him in thanksgiving.
Let's walk before Him in total dependence. Thank God, who is
He that condemneth. It's Christ that died, yea rather
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
says, I prayed for you. I prayed for you. All right,
Mike, you come lead us in a closing hymn.