How to Rely On The Sufficiency of Christ

Good morning, everybody Like Matt said it has been a good while this is only the

The second second time I've had this opportunity since my ordination. So as you guys can imagine Very excited have been very excited to get back to getting an opportunity to share the word with you guys

If you want to turn to Matthew chapter 18 with me, that's where we will get started this morning

Matthew 18 and we're gonna read a brief passage just to set the tone for today's

Sermon just started verse 1. It says at the same time came the disciples unto

Jesus saying Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said verily

I say unto you Except ye be converted and Become as little children you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me

Heavenly Father we thank you so much for this wonderful day that we've had together so far thank you for just the glorious opportunity for us to be able to meet on each and every

Lord's Day and to As I mentioned a second ago, just be uplifted to be refreshed by our fellowship among one another to get to be in the midst of so many people that we all love and care about so much and of course at the same time be abiding in your word together be lifting our prayer requests to you as a

Local body and to just worship in fellowship together in unity and again in your word

Thank you so much for the opportunity to do that today. We ask that your spirit be present that this message is blessed that everyone is encouraged by it and One more time

Lord did just our time together is blessed today. We ask these things in your name. Amen So you guys get me for the next four

Sundays? Hopefully that will be a blessing to everybody and what we're going to do since I have that designated amount of time is

Dive into kind of a mini series if you will on a particular topic that is

So broad that you may even think it's funny that we try to tackle it in the number of weeks that we have

But I do think we're going to be able to cover enough within this broad ranging topic

To be encouraged by it to be blessed by it over the course of four weeks And that is the overarching idea being the sufficiency of Jesus Christ Now there are many many aspects to that particular topic

We're going to dive into a few of them over the course of the next three weeks specifically Today is going to be more of an introduction to it.

So Before getting into the substance of what will be a pretty brief series that we're starting today

I wanted to open it up with a sermon that could kind of act as a call to worship to some degree a reminder of who we are as Christians as Believers so that we can begin to rely on Christ's sufficiency in our lives to the fullest degree so Understanding that Christ is sufficient is one thing and that's obviously a great starting point but getting to the point in each and every one of our lives in Relying on such a thing actually having faith and trust in the

Lord to such a degree that we feel his sufficient Presence. What do I mean by sufficient?

I mean that he is enough. He Jesus Christ the person is enough to Fill our every need or every desire to actually make us feel

Fulfilled in our lives and whatever our life endeavor may be To get to that point to rely on him to rely on his sufficiency to the point where we can start reaping the benefits and feeling the blessing of such reality as believers, so While we can certainly get the sense

Of the sufficiency of Christ in areas like salvation like life in general Like grief being in times of sorrow, which by the way are all areas.

We're going to be addressing over the next three Sundays after today,

I Feel that some special attention should be made on what it takes to fully submit to his

Sufficiency in the first place, which is what we're going to be doing today Now like the disciples as we're going to demonstrate in just a moment

It's all too easy for our desire to rely on Christ in the first place It's it's easy for that desire to wane for us to get to a point where perhaps especially

Not long after our conversion, you know, there's that fire in there. There's that new thing that new desire and passion for the

Lord and his word and spreading his word that we've never felt before and it's You know a feeling in an experience like no other and yet as life progresses beyond that initial conversion

We know that we can lapse into spaces and of time Phases in time where that desire that passion that fire wanes a little bit and We may actually end up finding ourselves in a particular place that Puts us relying on ourselves our own capacity

Our own intellect perhaps our own abilities and whatever situation may be to handle the situations before us

Perhaps even to handle the sorrow that is before us the gravity of whatever situation we have before us rather than The sufficiency of Christ the disciples did that we're gonna demonstrate what that looks like in just a moment

But again, it's all too easy for us to do it as well for that desire to wane as that desire is replaced with Perhaps the trivial cares concerns or pursuits of what life has for us

The distractions that it tends to bring our way when things are going generally well We don't typically feel the need to rely on Christ's sufficiency

And then what happens is we create kind of that habit of not relying on him in the good times when the bad times come if you want to think about it in these terms all of a sudden we're out of the habit of relying on him and all of the sudden

When things aren't going well, we're not used to going to him and we have trouble doing so in some cases and so It's worth reminding ourselves of the importance of relying on him in the first place relying on his sufficiency in our life in the first place

Getting in the habit of relying on it in all times in all phases of life

So when the tough time when the tough times come like what we'll be talking about a few weeks from now

We are prepared for it. We are prepared to rely on him To the nth degree the sufficiency of Christ is all about the reality that we can have freedom from sorrows freedom from the

Heaviness of Sorrows the anxieties of the world having any concern whatsoever with what other people may think about us which in a time such as this

When true biblical Christianity is lived out in practice when we are functionally

Christians and not Christians in name only all of the sudden we realize we're not such popular people and There are a lot of unflattering thoughts being tossed around by those around us that can bring us down as well

Relying on the sufficiency of Christ could be an antidote to that as well We're realizing that what others may think about us and let me let me be really specific here

When I say what others think about us, I'm not talking about this Postmodern idea of you know, people need to accept me for who

I am. That's not what I'm talking about I am talking about not caring about what people think about us when we put the

Bible's Methodology for living life at the forefront of our lives when again we live as Christians in Practice not just a name only in that context.

We don't care about what others think about us. Why? Because we are relying on one greater than them.

We're relying on one greater Than those around us the vain priorities that may subtly

Replace our concern for Christ all of that will begin to vanish as we remember the importance of relying on his sufficiency now

I am personally burdened have been for quite a long time, but that it has been Exacerbated since feeling called to the ministry

With the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters around us It doesn't take a lot of time to to go out and see this in play

But to see our brothers and sisters around us struggling with Truly grasping the freedom that they have in trusting the trusting the

Lord trusting Christ as Lord of all to the point where everything

I just mentioned those anxieties the the thoughts and the cares of the world can disappear and In so many contexts again we see brothers and sisters struggling with these issues and it stems from not having a grasp of relying on Christ's sufficiency in all of life after all he is

Lord of all and that would include all of life Encouraging them to the point where they can rely on him as their primary concern and asking the question as they just Move from one phase of life into the other is what

I'm doing is what I'm thinking about are my plans pleasing to him There is a little bit of a cause and effect there if you don't

Begin with relying and trusting in the Lord and relying and trusting in his sufficiency a necessary effect of that starting point will be living life unsure about everything and maybe not even having a care in the first place of Asking and what

I am what is what I am doing even pleasing to the Lord is what I am doing right now

Even what he wants me to be doing. Did I even ask? Well again, these are all issues that so many

Christians today Struggle with but if you backtrack a little bit and you begin to point them back to Christ as the sufficient

Lord of all insufficient in fulfilling your every need in life Then you give them some bedrock to work with once again, of course

It doesn't help that we live in a culture that is very confusing We live in an what you might call an egalitarian culture and what that means one of the results of That is that it strips all of us of our proper perception of God's created order it strips us of our ability to perceive the things in the way that life should be as It was laid out by God in the first place his design in what brings true fulfillment in all things his

Involvement in our lives to the point where he's watching us and everything that we do everything that we say everything that we think you're going to be grasping for that feeling of fulfillment if you stray away from his created order and that is the

Substance of our current culture, of course headed up by the devil himself It is to confuse everybody to strip us of those perceptions to make us forget about what

God's created order actually is and that leaves everybody grasping for air as they're in a freefall of Looking for fulfillment in life and wondering why they don't have it

Why are all of my hopes and dreams collapsing before me all the time in real time, and I can't find any relief from it

Well again, it's the result of the culture that we find ourselves in So it makes it all the more important for us as believers and as those that are out in discipling our brothers and sisters out

There especially if we notice that they find themselves Struggling with this with these issues to bring things back into focus to rely on the sufficiency of Christ in all things

He is the benevolent shepherd He's already that he fulfills his role 24 -7 already

He is watching his flock and because of that because he's benevolent he is going to either be disappointed or pleased with the actions of his sheep a

Loving shepherd or a loving father whatever analogy you want to use will be displayed in his pleasure in the good that they do in his displeasure his the fact that he is displeased in the wrong that they are doing so The question comes back to are we pleasing him?

How do we please him and that begins with relying on his sufficiency in our lives?

This isn't a reality that we get or we certainly don't need to but I would say we don't get to take it lightly our desire as His sheep because we are his sheep

Should be to please the shepherd to please him in all things to glorify him in All things so to get us there to have this newfound

Appreciation for Christ's efficiency in our lives as we begin to talk about this for the next month

I'd like for us to consider the model citizens of God's kingdom. Who are they?

How do they live their lives? What do they look like so that we can then model our lives after these particular citizens of God's kingdom?

Who are the model citizens of his kingdom? How can we set ourselves up for success in this world?

That's gone. Absolutely mad and Rely on his sufficiency to the extreme degree well, look one more time at the passage that we began with Matthew 18 starting in verse 1 and We are going to see who exactly these model citizens are and why that plays such an important role for us as Believers at any stage in life.

Does it matter how long we've been saved? Does it matter how old we are? Why we need to come back to this particular principle is the starting point for relying on his sufficiency.

Look at 18 verse 1 Of the Gospel of Matthew at the same time And by the way, that's going to be an important phrase

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven

Now this is a shame because this is a demonstration of the depravity of man broadly

Specifically though it is a demonstration of the innate selfishness that people tend to have in every single person in this room

Every single believer in the world will struggle with the very Selfish inclination that the disciples find themselves in here.

These are guys that are walking hand -in -hand with the Lord In their lives and yet they still struggle with selfishness.

They still struggle with the same sins that we may find ourselves stumbling into On any given day again excellent demonstration of how each of us are in this room.

What is their concern? What are they thinking about here? What are they worried about? Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Well, they're obviously thinking about themselves That's what their main care of at this point.

Now. This is a little rabbit trail because the hype is real Those are a lot of fun speaking of sufficiency

This is actually a really great way a really great example of how the sufficiency of Scripture works.

So Again, this is a rabbit trail. We're talking about the sufficiency of Christ in our lives

But there is this concept of the sufficiency of Scripture that being that we can rely on God's Word for everything and that of course includes from from that it includes the

Infallible, you know belief in its infallible nature. It's veracity. It's tenacity. It's inherent

Perfection all of these things stem from the sufficiency of Scripture It is sufficient for our lives and this is actually a great example of how that works because you have people say well

XYZ Isn't in the Bible explicitly spelled out and of course that is an attack on God's Word Being sufficient.

Well here what we have is we have the disciples prioritizing a very specific

Selfish pursuit over against the agony of our Lord. Why do I say agony? Well, we're gonna take a look at the context of this here in just a second

They put themselves before him they put themselves before everything else. They have this selfish

Inclination just like other humans do as well just like all humans do Now is our primary selfish concern being first in the kingdom of heaven.

Well for some people it very well may be It might be something else though status love pleasure for many people pipe dreams the next thing that will

Kind of invoke that that good feeling that next hit of dopamine Whatever it may be our cares and concerns for all these different areas of life

That all come back to our selfish desires our selfish wants our selfish needs

They they will inevitably Come to light and we will struggle we will have the temptation of making that the the center thing

Well, that's what the disciples just did They just did that themselves and so we can look at this

Their particular selfish struggle here was worrying about who was first in the kingdom of heaven

Not necessarily any given thing that we may struggle with any given selfish desire that we may struggle with But Selfishness is a uniquely human problem.

And so we can learn from this it stems from our depravity Like I said earlier and it is a it has a really special way of messing a lot of stuff up When when we we stumble upon it and when we let selfishness become our primary desire in life

Though the circumstances might be different for any given person. We see the problem of selfishness here demonstrated

So that's just one way maybe a minor example of how the sufficiency of Scripture works

It is showcasing the effects of selfishness so we can learn something from this story as It relates to our own selfish desires our own so our own selfish pursuits even if it's not seeking

Who's gonna be first in the kingdom of God you get my point? So maybe the circumstances are different but the result or excuse me the cause and the effect

Dynamic is exactly the same now How do we know that they are being particularly selfish here?

How do we know the disciples are struggling with selfishness here? Well go back just one chapter in Matthew go back to chapter 17 and you're gonna see the immediate context

For this dialogue between Christ and his disciples. Remember we've only read the first verse of chapter 18 so far

At that same time came the disciples unto Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Well, what preceded that?

Take a look at chapter 17 verse 20 and you will find Something pretty interesting here

It says in Jesus said unto them because of your unbelief Prevarily I say unto you if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed you shall say to this mountain

Remove hence to yonder place and it shall be removed and nothing shall be impossible unto you how be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting and While they abode in Galilee and here's the key verse in 23 while they abode in Galilee Jesus said unto them

Excuse me verses 22 and 23 The Son of Man shall be betrayed in the hands of men and they shall kill him in the third day

He shall be raised again. Remember a minute ago. I mentioned that the disciples were exhibiting this selfishness

While Jesus was agonizing. What was he agonizing? It was this this is what happened right before chapter 8 verse

Chapter 18 verse 1 the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men. They shall kill him in the third day

He shall be raised again and look at what the disciples immediate reaction was and they were exceeding.

Sorry so this is fascinating because first at the beginning of Chapter 18 it begins with at the same time

So the verses the main verse of the the main passage of focus here in Matthew 18 is happening immediately after Jesus describes his agony and we learned that the disciples immediate reaction to that agony was sorrowfulness the disciples immediate reaction was grief and in chapter 17 verse 23, but it proved to be very very short -lived because you get to chapter 18 verse 1 and What do they do their focus on Christ and his agony shifted

Into turning themselves into busybodies arguing about who is the greatest in the kingdom?

Just like any other little meager human would I mean, it's not that they were particularly bad It's that we're all particularly bad.

And so any one of us could fall into the same interesting Exhibition of human selfishness, even when the

Lord is sitting there telling them what's about to happen to him their main concern Their initial concern is one thing.

The main concern is another thing their initial concern of sorrowfulness, but their main concern is This it is

Wondering who is going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? So just to kind of round out that rabbit trail

I was talking about a minute ago I just want to use that as an example as an opportunity to say let's net

Let's not let that be us Let's as we turn our eyes on the sufficiency of Christ in our lives in its fullness and as we progress through this idea

Over the next month, let's not us forget about it Let's not as replace his sufficiency with any selfish desire any given human being can have all of us

Struggle with it. This is not a unique thing to any one particular person or any group of particular people

It is a uniquely human thing Due to our depravity, but we have grace.

The Lord is faithful We can be faithful to him We have the capacity because of this new creature that lives within us including the

Spirit himself To not have to fall for that trap that the disciples fell for here

We don't have to replace our focus and our reliance on his sufficiency with whatever our selfish pursuits may be so Again, that's just something that For all of us to think about that is a good opportunity

This particular passage Sheds some light on the importance of not putting ourselves before the Lord or before anyone else for that matter

Look at verse 2. We're back in Matthew chapter 18 again verse 2 we're going to continue this main passage that we began with and Jesus called a little child unto him

He called a little child unto him and he said him in the midst of them. Isn't this an interesting response to their

Self is quite selfish question They could have been rebuked. He could have been like are you kidding me right now?

Instead he demonstrates something that all of us can learn from and in doing so shows us what the model citizen of his kingdom looks like so that we can copy or imitate that citizen and rely on his sufficiency and Jesus called a little child unto him and said him in the midst of them and said verily

I say unto you except ye be converted And become as little children You shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

There are two steps given there number one be converted So it all begins with salvation

Obviously in order to become a citizen at all of his kingdom it begins with our regeneration

It begins with the with the work of salvation by God in his people so be converted is the first step, but there's a second step and I believe the second step is a

Specific call to our responsibility as believers and that is become as little children

Be converted become as little children and then what happens you inherit the kingdom of God look at verse 4

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child. So it does take some humbling It's not necessarily all that easy to become like a child to have the faithfulness of a child humble yourself as This little child the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven and who so and who so shall receive one such little one

One such little child in my name receiveth me the model citizens of the faith

Little children now, why are they the model citizens and how does this come back to our topic of the sufficiency of Christ?

Namely for this particular sermon Relying on the physical sufficiency of Christ how to rely on the sufficiency of Christ That's kind of the question that I like for us to think about answer today.

How do we do that? One of the reasons why this is such a

Important example for Jesus to use is because children naturally in Let's emphasize that word a little bit naturally it is in their nature.

It's what they want to do. It's what their desire Is it is what is built into them by God himself.

They are naturally reliant on the sufficiency of whom? of their parents

They naturally rely on the sufficiency of their parents with all faithfulness in all things

It's kind of an amazing thing. It's actually rather astonishing because you can see even in examples and It's somewhat devastating too.

You can even see that in examples of broken homes perhaps That even when the parents are falling short

Those kids still have that natural inclination to rely on them in all things to rely on their parents

What better example could we possibly have? For ourselves in our total reliance on Christ in his sufficiency than to look at the little ones

They have this natural desire They rely on that sufficiency of their parents with all faithfulness in all things

When a child is afraid of the darkness outside of the window at night when they think that they see

Something in the corner of their room or something in the closet. Who do they run to? They're running to their parents and that is a reliance on the sufficiency of their parents to protect them

Against anything they expect it Not only do they desire it but they expect it and they go to their parents in order to protect them for those things

Solomon tells us trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean in Excuse me lean not unto thine own understanding.

He tells us that in Proverbs 3 5 Okay, we said a little bit of groundwork in Pointing out who these model citizens are and why it's important that Jesus points us to them and says be like them be like this

Little one sitting on my lap humble yourselves and be like this little one So now we know we're supposed to do that, but let's think about some of the common pitfalls that mature

Believer well any believer at any at any phase in their experience in their walk with the

Lord could fall into and This is particularly a pitfall in our 21st century

American culture Think about what Solomon just said trust in the Lord with all thy heart

Lean not into thine own understanding That's Proverbs 3 5 self -examination

Introspection Figuring things out by our own Capabilities or perhaps even our lack thereof.

We may not even have capabilities, but we still are relying on ourselves is A tremendous issue in the church of the 21st century we have been totally infused with the idea that if we look within we look within ourselves and Try to understand ourselves a little bit better That there we can find the answers to our problems

Think about it just for a second I mean it won't it won't take long for you to think about the many different ways in which that message has been infused in Our lives in this century, but certainly even at the end of the 20th century as well and it's in all of the

Messages that are broadcast whether it be regardless of the medium it's everywhere

Having a better understanding of ourselves self focus Self -examination actually

Prioritizing that over the sacrificial responsibility of taking care of others including your own family in some cases secular philosophy

Secular psychology is permeated with this idea now the issue of course with relying on yourself

Is that that is a totally hopeless source of understanding? It's a totally hopeless source of understanding or solution to life's problems in our lack of fulfillment

There's a whole lot of ideas that are obviously bouncing around here. It all comes back to a reliance on Christ's efficiency

But if we are not focusing on him if we're not relying on him and yet wondering why on earth

We don't feel the fulfillment that we were promised to feel as we progress and grow into adulthood

Life gets really confusing really fast. So we go to people for help and what's the advice? introspection self -examination

Understanding yourself get to know you and so on and so forth It's a big problem though Because the

Prophet tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it The Lord searches the heart

I try the rain say it the Lord even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings

So you will reap what you sow the Lord knows our hearts He knows that we can't find the answers within and he warns us not to try to But even still we take our eyes off of the reliance of his sufficiency

And we put the focus on everything else anything and everything else. I say we

I'm generalizing a lot Believers in general the church in general, but this can be an issue that any one of us myself included my word

You know, can I testify to these being issues in your own personal life? These are things these are pitfalls we can follow

You know fall into ourselves taking our eyes off of that sufficiency of Christ putting it on something else

And so Jeremiah in chapter 17 verse 9 tells us the heart is deceitful above all things who can know it

That is the last place we want to go for determining the solutions to our

Problems to our lack of fulfillment to our hopeless pursuits

Think about it for a second if our heart is in and of itself the most deceitful thing in existence

Because that's what Jeremiah just says the heart is deceitful above all above all things

We think the devil is deceitful. We think his demons are deceitful. We think the world is deceitful

The most deceitful thing in the universe is our own heart So how on earth should we expect to find any answers to any problems in any category of life by means of introspection by means of self -examination by means of learning more about ourselves if Anything if it sheds any light at all

It is a reminder a testimony of how deceitful that heart actually is unfortunately though That's not the conclusion most people come away with it can be a very dangerous thing in Christians Unfortunately can fall prey to that too

Perhaps not on the same degree that the the secular world the unregenerate do but it is it is a temptation

It is a problem that we need to avoid as much as we possibly can our hearts are deceitful the only answers

That we're going to get if we do get any answers at all through self -examination are going to be deceitful answers

If we have the problems that we find if we have if we we stumble upon problems in life and our first Our first reaction to it is trying to figure things out

More likely than not depending on how far you take that depending on how introspective you get more likely than not you're going to be getting a deceitful answer to how to solve the problem and Then the snowball begins and eventually the avalanche and then we wonder why does life feel as hopeless as it does the responsibility of man cannot be overstated of course, it's

We will never not emphasize the sovereignty of God and his viewpoint over things Especially with examining the word that he gave us but as we live in real time our responsibility

Cannot be overstated because we want to avoid that snowball. We want to avoid that avalanche and yes, we can look back

We can see the way that the Lord works We could say that we can see the way that his sovereign hand was moving over situations that were bad even at the time but that doesn't change the reality and the importance of us

Living our lives as close to the biblical methodology that God gave us Living as closely to that as we possibly can so The heart is deceitful above all things

Let's not go there for figuring out the solutions to our problems

Self -examination if you put a focus on that When you do that, you have the potential to be a direct affront to the sufficiency of Christ It's not one thing that you're just kind of being a little bit goofy but depending on how far you take it you might very well be a direct affront to the sufficiency of Christ and That is an area that is a

Position that we don't want to find ourselves in because in him is the answer to all of the problems in the first place

Now you might be thinking great point great point Ben, but Jeremiah was referencing the stony heart of the unregenerate

I now have a heart of flesh from the Lord. And so surely it's not as deceitful as the unregenerate's heart surely

It's not the most deceitful thing. My heart's not the most deceitful thing in the universe well

In 1st Corinthians chapter 4 and by the way, that is certainly true. We have a heart of flesh

We no longer have that stony heart as Ezekiel tells us we that stony heart was removed

It was replaced by a heart of flesh. That is a representation of the regeneration of the Holy Spirit Absolutely true

Positionally, we are in Christ joint heirs with him. We are forgiven of our sins, but We still live in an earthen vessel

So it's very true in our regeneration is in fact salvation from hell as well as every other

Lesser Lord his brother rocky would say but Paul as a regenerate person as the preeminent example of All Christian faith and practice as the preeminent

Apostle Look what he has to say. He made it very clear that we as people even as believers are insufficient

For figuring everything out on our own in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 You can write this down if you want to look at it later.

You can look at it with me It says for I know nothing against myself What does he mean by that?

I? Self -examined myself I can be you know, if I am introspect introspective if I do examine myself

If I do consider my heart my mind where I'm at right now. I Not finding anything against myself.

I know nothing against myself but what does he say after that and if there was ever a person that we could trust and Actually meaning what he said when he says

I find nothing against myself. It was Paul. So he was legitimately a Good person not only by the world standards, but by his own standards in his mind in his heart of hearts

He found no fault in himself With regard to just good living, you know good in human terms good from the human viewpoint being again that exemplary

Christian To be imitated by other all other Christians But after he says that after he makes it abundantly clear,

I find nothing against myself. He says yet. I am NOT justified by this But he who judges me is the

Lord The Lord is our judge. He is the one that sets the standard not the world

So by the world standards even be a introspection We may be able to come out with this conclusion of you know, what?

I'm not such a bad person after all and yet We're not justified by this. We're not acquitted by that regardless of how good we are by the world standards

We're not justified by it. The Lord is our judge. He holds us to a higher standard and How on earth can you even come close to?

striving for that standard that seems abundantly too far for us to reach

The one and only way you can begin is to rely on his sufficiency To rely on the sufficiency of Christ in our lives and that it is his righteousness

By which we are seen righteous it is his peace that we receive when we need it It is his grace that we receive when we when we need it

The sufficiency of Christ is the one and only way to reach for that great standard that actually does justify us

Even when Paul did examine himself the greatest Christian that ever lived and found no fault in himself

He still understood That that was far from enough again to justify himself or to acquit himself of the need for Christ He knew that he couldn't rely on his own introspection on his own self -examination to get anywhere to find the answer to anything

So what's the answer then? Well, it's already been given the antidote to our

Insufficiency is to rely on the one that is sufficient to rely on that sufficiency to cast our care on his sufficiency

David tells us in Psalm 118. He said it is better to trust in the Lord than to have confidence in man

It is better to trust in the Lord. That's another way of saying Relying on his sufficiency to trust in the

Lord than to put confidence in princes. That's Psalm 118 8 through 9 Certainly if we can't even put trust in ourselves

We sure can't put our trust in anyone else Can we even if they were Prince even if they are a high rank even if they are viewed by The world is the best person ever

We can't do that We can't put our faith our trust in any one

Certainly not if we can't even put it in ourselves For fulfilling our needs for providing us with infallible wisdom in the midst of chaos

Put your trust in the Lord Rely on his sufficiency in everything now turn to Isaiah 25 for a second and I'm gonna try to wrap this up by 1215 not too much longer

But there are a couple of more very important points. I'd like to make before we dismiss and end this kind of introduction of this particular

Series that being the sufficiency of Christ. I'm gonna look at some specific ways in which that is true But first, how do we rely on it in us in Isaiah chapter 25?

And obviously there's a very specific context here, which I will get to but let's read it together first We're gonna read this whole whole chapter

Isaiah 25. Oh Lord thou art my God. I will exalt thee I will praise thy name for thou has done wonderful things.

Thy counsels are of old. They are faithfulness in truth For thou has made a city a heap of a defense city a ruin a palace of strangers to be no city

It shall never be built Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee

For thou has been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in the distress a refuge from the storm a

Shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall

Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers as the heat in a dry place even the heat with the shadow of a cloud the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low and In this mountain shall the

Lord of hosts make into all people a feast of fat things a feast of wines on the leaves Fat things full of marrow of wines on the leaves well refined

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering the separation the veil That is cast over all people in the veil that is spread over all nations

He will swallow up death and victory in the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces in the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth

For the Lord hath spoken it and it shall be said in that day. Lo this is our

God We have waited for him and he will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him

We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation for in this mountain shall the hand of the

Lord rest and Moab shall be trodden Down under him even as straw is trough is trodden down through the dunghill

And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them and he that swimmeth as he that swimmeth

Spreadeth forth his hands to swim and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands in the fortress of the

High Fort of thy walls shall he bring down lay low and bring to the ground even to the dust now

That chapter is right on the heels of Isaiah 24 which is a very interesting explicit dramatic view of the judgment to come the

Great Tribulation Chapter 25 is the result is the result. Excuse me is is the aftereffects of this great judgment

Specifically for his people now if you noticed in that chapter There were a number of things that Christ did that the

Lord did The utter defeat of every enemy the strength of the suffering he provides strength for the suffering

He is a refuge from the storm He is a shadow from the heat the utter provision of pleasures and of joy, you notice the wine the

The fat foods the wine on the leaves all of these things not only is there protection from the enemies

Not only is there a defeat from the enemies, but there's pleasure that he brings to his people

The swallowing up of death and victory. What more glorious thing is This conqueror that we have here.

Is there anything that Christ won't accomplish for us now? yes, the context of Isaiah 25 is our

Blessed future the one that we look forward to our blessed hope But his desire in his ability to be everything for us has been true for all of his people

For all of time So we look at this passage and it's talking about his conquering victory over all of our enemies as well as the initiation of plague

Pleasure for his people out in our future, but he is a God that doesn't change. He is immutable we learn in Malachi that he doesn't change and So this is an example of the type of ways in which he can be sufficient for us providing a shade from the heat

Providing us cover from the storm conquering our enemies for us bringing us the pleasures that we desire

Now look at the opening verse of the next chapter. Look at chapter 26 of Isaiah And these are actually the key verses

I wanted to look at but the context Chapter 25 of flowing into this is just was just too good to leave out.

It says in verse 1 of chapter 26 In that day after everything we just read in that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah We have a strong city salvation will got a point for walls and bulwarks

Open you the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter it That will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee the reliance of the sufficiency of Christ That will keep him in perfect.

Peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee

Because he relies on your sufficiency Trusty in the Lord forever for the

Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Now again while this large section of Isaiah is an explicit showcase of Christ's unparalleled protection his unparalleled provision his sufficiency in our future.

The question now is Is it any different now? Is it any different present tense?

Are the ways in which Christ provides and is sufficient in the context that we just read is it any different?

For us now do we receive the everlasting strength of Jehovah by trusting in him now

There's only a couple more passages to turn to but go to first John chapter 5 for a second we are wrapping this up and there may be a couple of things that I'll leave out for this week and Cover next week, which we can certainly do

But in first John chapter 5, I believe we find an answer to that question. Is it any different for us now?

Can we rely on? This sufficiency the way that we know we can in our blessed future when he comes back in glory first John chapter 5 verse 13

Says these things have I written unto you Unto you that believe on the name of the

Son of God That ye may know that ye have eternal life in that ye may believe on the name of the

Son of God That's a really interesting way of putting things in and of itself But we'll cover that another day look at verse 14

And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us that if we ask anything

Key phrase here according to his will he heareth us And if we know that he hears us as John says in verse 15 if we know that he hear us

Whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him so certainly a

Reliance a trust a belief in the name of Christ is the cause of a great multitude of Blessings a great number of blessings when we pray to him by his will

He hears us because he hears us. We have the requests that we have made to him in no less miraculous

Than those things we have eternal life in him as well verse 13 There's a lot of stuff in that little passage there.

There's the assurance of salvation or eternal security There is also assurance in prayer one of our greatest weapons in this life

Assurance of salvation is nowhere better displayed than in the assurance that we get when we pray to our

God in Knowing that our words are being translated by the Spirit himself as he takes them to the father

Romans 8 26 But the phrase according to his will Again, a very important phrase according to his will that is particularly important to note because this statement by John assumes

Something very important. It assumes that we are doing something as believers. That is very important that that the ability to rely on Christ efficiency stems from and That is that we are being submissive to his will that we are submitting to Christ As Lord as King overall that we are submitting to him

It's the only one that can provide the sufficiency that we need John assumes that that we care more about praying in his will than we do our own think about how many vain prayers go

Up if they even go up Every second of every day that aren't actually being directed by the

Spirit that aren't actually in the hands of God That aren't actually being brought forth to the father by his will

Think about how often that takes place well When we are submissive to him and we are submissive to his will over our own

It kind of goes back to that little rabbit trail we covered earlier with regard to our selfishness all of the sudden

He hears everything that we have to say and he is sufficient in answering everything that we have to say We actually own the requests that we make is what

John says The Prophet once again Tells us in Isaiah 41 13 for I the

Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto you fear not I will help thee that is the sufficiency of Christ What does it mean to be submissive to him?

It means to trust him to rely on his sufficiency trustee in the Lord forever for in him is everlasting strength

He is the same yesterday today and tomorrow if he helped his people then at the time that Isaiah was penned

He will help his people now And because of that hope because of that reality, we don't have to fear

We don't have to be confused by the things that the culture is throwing at us or confused

By perhaps our lack of fulfillment Confused by things not working out exactly like we thought they would

We don't have to be confused All we have to do is to rely on his sufficiency and then he'll provide the answers from that point forward.

So One of the beginning steps to understanding and being able to rely on the sufficiency of Christ is to become like those model citizens that we began with To become like those model citizens of God's kingdom that we talked about earlier the children now our monsters look a little bit different than the children's monsters when they see something scary out the window and they see when they think they see something in the corner you can feel the imagination of all of the things they've consumed and all of the things they have seen all the visuals they've had in the things they're

Describing the things that they see But we have monsters too. Now. They look a little bit different.

It could be surmounting debt. It could be a Backbreaking job perhaps a will breaking job with people that just don't care about you

But you're having to put food on the table. Perhaps there are rifts in your friendships There may even be rifts in your own family.

These are scary things These are monsters that we have to face ill health Maybe the ill health of a loved one that can be really scary the loss of a loved one

Maybe the fear of losing a loved one that you haven't even lost yet Just the fear of losing someone could be something deathly frightening

Feeling unfulfilled in life. That is something that you shouldn't sleep on Especially with those around you if you feel pretty fulfilled in your own life

Look around you look at your brothers and sisters Make sure they are feeling the same way because if they're feeling unfulfilled that can be dangerous that can be scary

Feeling unfulfilled in life not knowing what your future holds severe anxiety about the future in general your sin problems

Will I ever even conquer these problems that I have? Maybe it's acute spiritual warfare

Literally the devil and his demons doing everything everything they can to affect your life in the negative

These are all really scary things Just like a child is scared when he looks out his dark window at night and has to rely on the sufficiency of his parents so What does the child have that sometimes we don't?

The child has faith that his parents will be there to protect him. Sometimes we don't have that So what do we need to do?

We need to rely on the sufficiency of Christ without the faith of a child

We're gonna forget that we don't have to stand Stone cold with our mouths gaping open afraid of this emanation in the dark corner

That could be any one of the things I listed or something else. We don't have to be like that. We can back up Against the thigh of our

Great Shepherd and know that he will protect us in all things One of my favorite verses in the

Bible the Prophet Daniel tells us he revealeth the deep and secret things He knoweth what is in the darkness.

He knows what's out there. He knows what's out the dark window He knows what's in the darkness in the light dwelleth with him.

That's Daniel chapter 2 verse 22 Rely on him as your shepherd Rely on the sufficiency of Christ and all of the sudden all of these scary things

Start to disappear. They start to dissipate because we know that he can take care of the problem for us

This is the end I promise turn to Matthew chapter 11 I Mean we went this far.

We're right at 1215 So I might as well read the last passage passage I have and it'll save us a little bit of time for next week but Matthew chapter 11 and Look at verse 25 at that same time

Jesus answered and said Excuse me. Hold on Matthew chapter 11 verse 25.

Okay. Yeah, this is right He said I thank thee Oh Father Lord of heaven and earth

Because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes

Another reference to this child likeness that we have to have this childlike faith that we have to have

Thank you father for revealing that unto babes Even so father for so it seemed good in my sight all things are delivered unto me of my father and no man knoweth the son

But the father neither knoweth any man the father saved the son and he to whomsoever

The son will reveal to him because of this glorious reality because that is true because what

Jesus just said is true Look what he says Nick come to me all ye that labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest in your souls

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light Is it the son and only the son that reveals the father?

the answer is yes verse 27 the way that we know the father is through the son and Who to whom?

Does he reveal the father to babes to little children to those who turn their faith?

Like those of a child verse 25 the model citizens of Christ's kingdom It is by relying on his sufficiency alone that we are ever able to know the father

But running in parallel of that great revealing of the father to us is being given the rest

The refreshment of the revealer himself so we get to know the father

But guess what we get to partake in all of the wonderfulness That is the revealer the one that actually did the revealing in the first place the sufficiency of Christ He knows our weaknesses he knows the need for relief from our burdens because he approaches us as a meek and lowly

Servant he approaches us with a meek and lowly heart verse 29 He was the man of sorrows after all during his lifetime on earth.

What greater person could we have to fully empathize with our sorrows? Other than the man of sorrows himself, by the way, that's going to be something we'll talk more about in the coming weeks

It's not that we're done working The fact that he has a yoke implies that we still have some work to do notice

He doesn't say come to me and your yoke will be relieved. He says my yoke is lighter. There's still a yoke

There's still work to do there are still battles before us but The point is the work that we have left is with him and it is for him and It is easy and it is light.

It's not no work, but it is easy And it is light verse 30 We can face the sorrows of this world by relying on the sufficiency of the one that we call

Lord By trusting that he meant what he said Come to me all you that labor and that are heavy laden and I will give you rest

We can trust him when he said that and when we trust that we're trusting in his sufficiency

We're relying on his sufficiency and then the things that we'll be talking about in the coming weeks will be made possible

By doing this by starting here by the child likeness of the believer By ensuring that our faith is that of a little one the model citizen of Christ's kingdom

If y 'all wouldn't mind standing we'll go ahead and dismiss Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for this wonderful day Thank you for providing us with an opportunity to gather together to abide in your word to talk about your word together

To let your word shine light on areas of life that are otherwise so confusing so disjointed

That don't make any sense. We need you Lord. We need your sufficiency in order to make it through all of these things

So we thank you that you provide yourself and that you provide your word is the roadmap for getting us there

Lord We ask you to help us rely on your sufficiency in all of our lives in all of life for all of us this coming week as well as in the weeks to come as well as throughout our entire journey as Christians as ones that belong to you

That are striving to become more and more like you each and every day we ask for it we need your help, but we know that as we back up to you and rely on you to protect us from all of these

Terribly scary things that we have to deal with You can conquer it. You will conquer it and we thank you for it

We ask you to give us that faith Lord be with us for the rest of the day for the rest of our fellowship time together and Lord willing bring us back safely together this time next week.