Do I need to turn something on?
There it is. Okay. Good evening. Let's open this
evening's service with hymn number 22 from our Spiral Gospel Hymn
book, number 22. For the glory of His grace, let's
all stand together. We were ruined by the fall. Adam's sin defiles us all. By our deed as by our birth,
we deserve the law's great curse. Helpless, hopeless sinners we,
never can our souls retrieve. But the blessed Son of God Came
as man in flesh and blood He fulfilled the law's demands And
in death stretched out his hands On the cross of Calvary Christ
redeemed and set us free In the time which God had set, the Spirit
came for His elect to regenerate and call from the ruin of the
fall. By His power and by His grace,
we were born for God's own praise. ? Now your purpose we fulfill
? Saved according to your will ? Sing this song of joyful praise
? For the glory of your grace ? Blessed holy triune God ? Hear
our praise through Christ our Lord Please be seated. We were just discussing up there
about how God had delivered us from false religion. And he has to deliver us or we'd
stay there. For God's call to worship, please
turn with me to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. I guess for those who don't know,
everyone is well in Australia. We pray the Lord will bless the
gathering there. And that is an encouragement
that God always has a people. And as long as this earth exists,
he'll see that they're provided for. We're thankful for that. Chapter 3, verse 1, Paul is writing,
do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we of some
others epistles of accommodation to you or letters of accommodation
from you? Paul's establishing his reasoning
for being there and how they need to listen to what he said.
He don't, letters of recommendation, we don't need those things. He's
saying, you are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read
of all men. For as much as ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written
not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables
of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. That's what we
are for brother Greg, we're his epistles. We are those who God
was pleased to save under his preaching, most of us. Verse
four, and such trust have we through Christ to Godward. This
is what I want to see, verse five. Not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. I'm painfully reminded every
time I step up here of my lack of sufficiency. You know, have you ever been
asked to do something and you think, I don't even know where
to begin. I'm not qualified. It's over
my head. I think a lot of them say it's
above my pay grade. You know what I'm saying? I don't
even know where to start. And I'm afraid to start because
I'm afraid that whatever I do will be wrong. That's how it
is every time you enter the pulpit, whether to lead the singing or
pray or whatever it may be Lord I'm not I'm not sufficient to
do this and if you don't bless it and if you don't speak through
me it will be in vain and we know that we are depending on
God to bless the time here that we have and I pray that if the
day come that ever I think that I am sufficient that he will
stop me from doing this. Because no man is. Even the most,
uh, Brother Henry and all of them would tell you the same
thing. I'm always, and I lamber on, but Brother Henry, I remember
one of the things that impressed me. He came here and Greg says
he's in there in his room the whole time. I thought maybe he
was mad at us or something. He was in there reading, studying,
pleading with God to give him a message. And he'd been preaching
for over 50 years. But that's how anyone that tries
to do this, we know that as Moses said, Lord, if you're not with
us, don't let us go. Don't let us go. Let us plead
with God for his blessing on the services tonight. Lord, we've
gathered together in your name. We agree with you that we have
no strength or power And we are asking, Lord, that
you would send your spirit to us, and that you would speak
to us through sinful lips, and that you might be pleased, Lord,
to give us the faith to hear, and that you would give me the
ability to declare Christ clearly and concisely, and that you would
give all of us the ability to believe and to rest in you. We ask it for your glory. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number 340 from the hardbacked hymnal.
340. Nearer, still nearer, close to
thy heart. Draw me, my Savior, so precious
Thou art. Fold me, O fold me, close to
Thy breast. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. ? Nearer, still nearer, nothing
I bring ? ? Not as an offering to Jesus, my King ? ? Only my
sinful, now contrite heart ? Grant me the cleansing thy blood doth
impart. Grant me the cleansing thy blood
doth impart. Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to
be Thine. Sin with its follies I gladly
resign. All of its pleasures, pomp and
its pride, Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Nearer, still nearer, while life
shall last, till safe in glory my anchor is cast, through endless
ages ever to be. Nearer, my Savior, still nearer
to Thee. Nearer, my Savior, still nearer
to Thee. If you would turn in the word
of God to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. My children told me I have officially
reached old age. And they told me that because
they say, Dad, You've told me that three times already. I don't
need to hear it again." I said, well, I'm now officially passed
into the dimension I'm in of old age. And I'm not going to
tell you anything new tonight you don't already know. But it's
still a joy to hear it, to believe it, and I hope the Lord enables
me to preach it. After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee was president of Washington
and Lee College. And it was his habit every day
before going into the office to go to chapel. Tom, you know
what chapel is? That was church. And they had
a lot of many very well-known, R.L. Dabney, many well-known
gospel preachers. And Lee went in one day and the
man preached. And after he was done, he closed
in prayer. And he prayed for the people
in Asia. He prayed for the people in Africa.
He prayed for the people in South America. He prayed for the people
in Europe. He prayed for the people all
over the world. And then he finished. And after
he was done, Lee came up to him and he said, Sir, next time you
pray, do you think you could pray for us poor sinners right
here in this room? That's the difference between
religion and gospel. Religion believes evangelism
happens outside these walls. Gospel says it happens right
here inside these walls. And tonight, that's what I hope
the Lord and labor do. A chief of sinners is going to
try to say something to other chief of sinners. This is a place
where sinners meet. And that's what I want to talk
about tonight, the forgiveness of sin. forgiveness of sin. Now, I'm guilty of this. I'm always embarrassed when I
read letters from people a hundred years ago, how eloquently they
wrote and how much better they were, but they didn't use their
words as loosely as what we use them today. You know, how many
times, oh, that's amazing. Only God is amazing. Well, that's
wonderful. The Bible says God alone is wonderful.
And I can't tell you how many times I've told, oh, you're a
good, only God is good. Well, a new one that I've seen,
maybe you do when you're somewhere, people come after I've done something
and I leave, they say, have a blessed day. You have a blessed day. I would
like to have a blessed day. But the problem is, is they have
no idea what it means to be blessed by God. See, if you ask them,
how do I know God's blessed someone? They will talk about outward
things, won't they? They have a wonderful home. They
have great children. They all have straight teeth.
They don't have any problems. They got, you know what I'm saying?
Man always looks at the outward things. the temporal things.
God looks at eternal things and He looks at the heart. I need
to know what does God say is His blessing? What blessing is
it I need from God? And it begins right here in Romans
chapter 4 verse 6. Now we have the beatitudes, we
say blessed, but this I believe is the heart of all of God's
This is what I, Michael Etheridge, need to have God bless me with.
Even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works. I need that. I need God to give me a righteousness
that I can't attain to. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
I need the righteousness of Christ. And he says, without works, that
means there's nothing I've done. Verse 7, saying, blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. I need to know that God has forgiven
my sins and iniquities. And verse 8, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Brothers and sisters, there
is one thing we have got to know. I need God to speak to my heart
and give me His Spirit to believe that my sins and iniquities are
forgiven and He has given me the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If the Lord blesses me with that,
everything else is just secondary. It's just secondary, isn't it?
Does that mean we don't have trials and difficulties? Absolutely,
all the day long. I tell people what Brother Greg
said, I'm either in trouble, going out of trouble, or going
into trouble. I'm in one of those three states my whole life. Sometimes
I don't even know which one I'm in, because it's so familiar.
But I need to know that God has forgiven my sins and given me
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus If I have that, if he gives
me the faith to believe that, this life, whatever is dealt
to me, is secondary. It's secondary. And there's a
reason for that. You folks know from Lexington,
all of us sometimes are sports fans. Some of us get on the verge
of being fanatics out there. There's one in Lexington, Kentucky.
I like sports too, and I have a favorite team. And I'm not
proud to say this, but we'll be watching them on TV live.
And I'm there, and I get emotionally involved. Bert, you don't do
that, do you? No, I didn't think you did. And
next thing, my wife's watching it with me, we're for the same
team. Oh, can you believe they've done that? That is the dumbest
thing I've ever seen them do in my life. And you know, and
the game goes and it gets worse and they get behind and then
they do something else again. Oh, they're going to end up getting
beat just sure as the world. And then it gets fun. And pretty
soon, um, my wife said, where are you going? Here's the click,
you know, take the remote. I'm going in the bedroom, see
if the John Wayne movies on. Cause I ain't watching it anymore.
I've had it. I can't take it. And I do that. You get nervous
and that sometimes when it's a close, I'm walking the floor,
watching it. You know what I'm saying? Well, There's other times
when I watch the game on replay. Okay? I already know what the
score is before I watch the game. And guess what? When they do
those stupid things, that's all right. Why? Because I know how it's going
to end. See what I'm saying? As believers,
we know how it's going to end. So when life's troubles and difficulties
and heartaches come to us, I can face them head on, because I
know how it's going to end. I know that if God has forgiven
my sins and given me the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, no
ending could be better. And we look forward to the end,
don't we? We look forward to that day when it all ends. That's
what I want to know. I have to know. What is, I'm
forgiven, and I have the righteousness
of Christ. Now, before you can understand the cure, you need
to know something about the disease, don't you? Because if you know
nothing about sin, some people are on their deathbed right now
and don't know it, and they're happy and merry. But once you
know, I need to know, what is sin? God has said, sin is anything
that violates his law. Sin is anything that falls short
of the glory of God. And turn with me please to Psalm
51. Psalm 51. I want us to look,
what is it that we're forgiven of? And there's two points that the
unbeliever don't know. Psalm 51. Look at verse 1. David is crying out, Have mercy
upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Lord, blot out my transgressions. He's not saying, Lord, blot out
my transgressions because look at all the good things I'm doing
for you. He's saying, Lord, I only hope I got as you show mercy
to me. and don't give me what I deserve. Verse 2, wash me thoroughly
from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. This old nature, this old flesh,
I'm going to tell you, mine hadn't gotten any better. In fact, as
you grow in grace, you'll see just it's more and more evil
every day. And I don't even see it as God sees it. He knows it
how it really is. I want you to see verse 4. David
said, Against thee, that's God, and thee only have I sinned and
done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when
thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Now, I want to say the things
we're going to look at are not the cause of our salvation. they
are the results of our salvation. See, religion says you do this
and God will save you. The gospel is God saved me and
now I do this. One of the things every believer
knows that all my sin is against the holy and a just God. It's
not against you, it's against God. You know, man in his natural
state, they don't believe that. Oh, I commit acts of sin. The
believer knows, Lord, everything I do is a sin against you. And there's a difference. If
I were to steal from Adam and I were to be caught, okay, well,
he might show me mercy and say, well, I'm not going to press
charges. My sin is forgotten, isn't it? Or he might not have any, I stole
so much that the police are involved and they take me to trial. And
the judge says, not only do I have to pay him back, but I spend
time in the jail, God forbid. After I've served my time, what
does it says? I am forgiven, right? I've been
atoned for. It's not that way with God. every
sin we got, we are unable to atone for one single sin against
the Holy God. That's how serious our sin is.
I can't do anything to satisfy God's justice and God's justice
demands that every single sin be punished against God and God only. I thought
this was interesting. We were at Sunday school. Forgive
me for giving those, but you know, the kids understand a lot
more. I think of Logan, he hears a lot more than what you know.
That's why we're thankful they're here. We were in Sunday school
class and we were teaching this to the children that our sin
is against God. You may get by, you may fool
me, but that doesn't matter. Your sin is against God who knows
all your sins. And it just so happened that
day, there was two young people, they were both sophomores in
high school, a young man and a young lady, came with a young
girl. And I said, well, just to give you an idea, I said,
have any of you in this room ever committed murder? And one
of the little girls said, I have. Those two people were guests.
The boy, I could have heard, I thought his jaw, it hit the
floor. And he, guess what he first think? He leaned over the
girl and whispered, and looked at her. And I know what he said.
She said, she's murdered somebody. And I asked him, I said, well,
have you ever said that you, have you ever had hatred towards
anybody? Well, yeah. And God said, you've murdered.
Well, but I didn't really murder anybody. I said, man's laws,
they matter, but they don't matter like God's laws. and God's laws
must be kept perfectly. I said, everyone in this room
has sinned against God and we are guilty and God's justice
demands that we be put to death, our sins be punished, not only
physically but we've been put to death spiritually and we cannot
atone for a single one. Now, I don't know if they heard
that or not But I can tell you, he'll go back and tell somebody,
they got kids over there, said they murdered people. But we
have, haven't we? You see, all our sin is against
God. Then look down at verse five.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me. You know, we've all seen it.
Religious people say, David, his mother must have been an
adulteress. No, that's not what this means. David is saying,
I come from the womb a sinner. I was a sinner when I was conceived. And I came because of the sin
of my father, Adam. Adam. The religious don't believe that.
you ever told somebody about original sin, the sin of Adam? What's the first thing they say?
That's not fair. I didn't do anything. But I can't tell you how important
it is to believe original sin because the Lord said if you
don't partake of the sin of Adam, you cannot partake of the forgiveness
of Christ. Imputation is the gospel. I came from the womb, a sinner.
You know what's amazing to me? Even lost people know some truths,
but they don't know the truth. I heard a man, and he was in
Reformed religion, and it stayed with me when he said it. He said
they always help people from the Ukraine to understand original
sin. They'd say, well, when is a wolf
a wolf? When it's born or when it eats
its first sheep? Well, you say, well, it was a
wolf when it was born. When was I a sinner when I was
born? I'm a sinner. And only God can
make you a sinner. That's a work of His grace. If
you see yourself as nothing but sin, that's the difference. Religion
says, well, I sinned, but I've got some good. God's people know
better. I am sin. I do sin because I
am a sinner. Sin's who I am. It's not what
I do. I find myself, it's ever present with me. Even as I'm
speaking to you right now, it's latent with my sin. We are nothing but sinners. We
are born sinners. I have transgressed God's law. I've never been able to keep
God's law. God's law is still good, but I can't keep it. I'm guilty, and I know today
if I stand before the judge that day in my own steed, God have mercy on me. I am deserving
of hell. I can, you know, we talked about
it old time. I can still remember Feral Griswold. I can hear him
now. We are hell bound, hell deserving
sinners. He'd say that every message.
And if God doesn't intervene, that's where we want to go. I
heard him say, hell is not full of innocent people. There are
people who refuse to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
us. That's original sin. I was shaped
iniquity and I was born a sinner. I was born alienated from God. I can't know God unless God intervenes. I'll know some foolish God out
there, but I won't know the God that can save. So we know two
things as a believer. One is our sin is against God
and one is we are nothing but sin. The last thing I want us
to see, please, turn with me to Matthew chapter nine. Matthew chapter nine. 1465. Ah, come on, Michael. I haven't got the page written
down, I can't find it. Matthew chapter 9 verse 1, And he entered
into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And,
behold, they brought to him a sick man, sick of palsy, lying on
a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of
the palsy, Son, now this is a man, physically he's in bad shape.
I mean, have you ever seen the palsy? It's nothing, it's a very
debilitating condition. Son, be of good cheer. Now, can
you imagine that, seeing some palsy like that? Be of good cheer.
Maybe I thought, this guy's a fool. But he said, Be of good cheer,
thy sins be forgiven thee. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And
behold, certain of the scribes said with themselves, This man
blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their heart,
said, Wherefore think you evil in your hearts? For whether it
is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise
and walk. Which of those two is the greater,
greater miracle? Thy sins be forgiven. But you
may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins. Then saith He to the sick of
the palsy, Arise, take up the bed, go into thy house. The third
thing every believer knows is only God can forgive sins. We can come to one another, and
I could come, and I say, boy, I've got a load of trouble, and
I can spew out my guts on you. You can't help me. All you can
do is point me. I can't forgive your sins. I
can't help you. Only Christ can help you. Look
to Him. Don't look to another man, another
woman. Look to Christ. He's the one
and the only one that can forgive sins. That's why I, there's not
a person in this room that doesn't have lost loved ones. I know
most of us, I mean, they're so deep in false religion, they
don't even know where to start. We have to plead with God. I
plead with God for their souls, because pleading with them is
worthless. They don't want to listen. They don't want to hear.
They can't do nothing for themselves. They're alienated from God. They
don't even know that they're sinners. But only God can forgive
sin. Only God can forgive sin. You
know, when God must reveal us as a sinner,
You remember when the rich young ruler came to our Lord? And he
said, Lord, what much should I do to have eternal life? And
our Lord says, keep the commandments. He didn't mean just the 10 commandments.
He meant everything he's commanded. Now, if you listen to that carefully,
what's the first words he says? Which one? Well, that'll tell
you something right there. He's fishing out there, because,
well, tell me which one, and that's the one we'll focus on.
Your kids do that to you, don't you? Which one do you want me
to do, A or B? I told you to do your homework.
Which one? And the Lord says, well, he read
off some commandments. And what did he say? Well, I've
done all those since my youth. And I've used this with every
person in that class. The next words the Lord says,
if thou be, you know what he says next? Perfect. If thou be perfect, I said, young
people, that's God's standard, absolute perfection. Have you lived up to that? Can
you live up to that? I said, there's only one that
has, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I need God
to forgive my sins, and I need him to give me the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. because his, God's standard is
absolute perfection. The law is not to give us a standard
to live to, the law is to show us that we can do nothing for
ourselves. I don't want to be under the
law because I know I can't keep it. I have to say this, people say,
well don't you, I don't, look I can't keep it, that's all there
is to it, I can just tell you that. I don't even try because
I know I can't keep it. All I ask God is restrain the
evil of my heart and mind because I know I can't keep it. But every
believer knows those three things. They know that our sin is against
God. They know that we are nothing but sin. And we know that only
God can forgive sin. And now here's the good message. Has God made you a sinner? I'm
so thankful God made me a sinner. Turn with me to 1 Timothy, please. This is a verse you all know.
You probably don't need to read it. 1 Timothy, verse 14. And the grace of our Lord was
exceedingly abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus." That's wonderful words, isn't
it? God's grace was exceedingly abundant to me. And this is his
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, what I'm about
to tell you should be believed by every single individual, that
Christ Jesus came into this world To save people who have sin? No, no, no. Sinners, people who are nothing
but sin. And this is one that Clay Curtis
brought this out to me. I've read it a hundred times
and I didn't appreciate it until he said it. Of whom I, see that
next word? Am chief. Not I was chief. I am chief. Right now I am. chief
of all sinners. You're looking at one today,
and I'm talking to chief of all sinners. I am nothing but sin. I know there's nothing I can
do, but thanks be to God, that's who the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save. He said, the well don't need
a physician. I am sick with sin. I need a physician. I need Christ
because I can't atone for one of my sins. But there's better news than
that. The Lord said he's cast our sins as far as the east is
from the west into the sea. But turn with me please to Hebrews
chapter 8, over a few pages. verse 6, and it says, But now
he hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he
is the mediator of a better covenant, that is Christ. And this new
covenant was established upon better promises. For if that
first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second. You remember the Jews, they sacrificed
blood day after day after day after day after day. And what
did the priest tell him when he was done? Come back again
next year. Come back again next year. It
never atoned for a single sin, but it was a picture of the one
who would atone for it. For finding fault with them,
he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I make a
new covenant with the house of Israel, that's his church, and
the house of Judah, not according to the covenant I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them
out of the land of Egypt. He led us out of the land of
the law, didn't he? That's Egypt, slave masters. Because they continue not in
my covenant, and I regarded them not, said the Lord. For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, said the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach every
man and his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest.
Here's verse 12. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities. You see
what it says next? Will I remember no more. Now, I can't understand that.
How can an all-knowing, sovereign God, omniscient, all-powerful,
and He's saying to me right here, He doesn't remember His people's
sins no more. I can't understand it, but thank
God He gives us the faith to believe it. God Almighty. does not remember
the sins and iniquities of his people because he's always seen
us in Christ before the foundations of the world. We've always been in Christ and God doesn't remember us.
You know it's funny, I've said this one, God says he can't remember
them and I can't forget them. But oh Lord, give me the faith
to believe it's true. Because what you said, this is
what I, I can't remember who I said this, one guy said, people
say, well, that's just what God says. I think Don Forney said,
well, let me tell you, whatever God says, that's how it is. That's how it is. I can't explain
it, I can't understand it, but God give me the faith to believe
it, because that's how it is. He sees all His children, when
He sees them He sees Christ perfect without sin, without blame. The
last one I want to look at is look with me please to Luke chapter
7. Luke chapter 7 this is a familiar
passage. This is verse 36. This is the
lady here. Luke 7 verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner. Sinner. When she knew that Jesus
said it, meet at the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box
of ointment and stood at his feet behind him, weeping and
began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe them with the hairs
of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
Now, when the Pharisees, oh, there we are. That's, guess what?
There's Pharisees today. They're alive and well, trust
me. And they haven't changed since the days of Christ, have
they? That's the religious. The Pharisees, which had bidden
him, saw it, and the Pharisees spake with themselves, saying,
This man, if he were a prophet, he's talking about Christ, would
have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches
him, for she is a sinner. Who did Christ come to save?
Sinners, not Pharisees, sinners. And Jesus' answer said unto him,
Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. And he say, Master,
say on. I bet Simon wish he could take those words back, don't
he? Because he's going to tell him now. There was a certain
creditor which had two debtors. One owed 500 pence and the other
50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him the most? And Simon answered and said,
I suppose that he to whom he forgave the most. And he said
unto him, thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, seeest this woman? I entered into thy house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my
feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou
gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil did thou not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore,
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. Verse 48, And he said unto her,
Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sitteth to meet
with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that
forgiveth sins only? Also, sorry, see they didn't
understand only God can forgive sins. And he said to the woman,
Thy faith has saved thee, go in peace. Her faith, it wasn't
her faith that saved her, it was the object of her faith that
saved her, the Lord Jesus Christ. But the whole point, he that
is forgiven much, loves much. He that's forgiven little, I
need little, I just need a little bit of forgiving, loves. And I ask myself and I ask you,
how much have I been forgiven? And it ought to spur me, and
I confess, I don't love the Lord like I wish I did, but we love
the Lord. We love Christ, we love his gospel,
and we love his church. because we have been forgiven
much. We love much. And we ought to be the most loving
people there are, shouldn't we? My mind can't comprehend what
I've been forgiven of. I'll just say that. Because as
black and evil as I see my sin, it's worse than that. You want
to know what God thinks about sin? Look at Calvary. There's his
dear son who kept his law perfectly, obediently, always resting in
God the Father. But when he became sin for his
people, when he took on our sins, you see what God thinks about
sin right there, that he would put to death his own son. Oh, brother, I need God to give
me the faith to know and to believe. My biggest need in this life
is to know that my sins and iniquities are forgiven and that he has
given me the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I've
got that. I'll just say. The rest of it
pales. It pales. I start to say it means
nothing. It's hard to believe that when
we're in difficult times, but as believers, we know how it's
going to end. So this roller coaster we go
through life, we know where the end's going
to be. And we take comfort in knowing that that end is a sure
end. His salvation is sure salvation. Oh, that God may give us the
grace To know that. And to love him. How would you
finish? OK, sir. Closing. Closing prayer
please. 199 let's stand. ? Sinners Jesus will receive ?
Sound this word of grace to all ? Who the heavenly pathway lead
? All who linger, all who fall ? Sing it o'er and o'er again
? Christ receiveth sinful man Make the message clear and plain,
Christ receiveth sinful men. ? Come and he will give you rest
? Trust him for his word is plain ? He will take the sinful last
? Christ receiveth sinful men ? Sing it o'er and o'er again
? Christ receiveth sinful men ? Make the message clear and
plain ? ? Christ receiveth sinful men ? ? Now my heart condemns
me not ? ? Pure before the law I stand ? ? He who cleansed me
from all spot ? ? Satisfied its last demand ? and or again, Christ receiveth
sinful men. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ receiveth sinful men. Christ receiveth sinful man,
Even me with all my sin, Purged from every spot and stain, Heaven
with Him I enter in, Sing it o'er and o'er again. ? Christ receive a sinful man
? Make the message clear and plain ? Christ receive a sinful
man Let's close in prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you for bringing
us here tonight. Lord, we thank you for your word
preached. Lord, we need to be saved. Lord, save us. Lord, cause
us to look to you. Lord, send your spirit to confirm
that we belong to you, Lord. And when we doubt and when we
fall, cause us to look to you again, Lord. Lord, we ask you
to be with our pastor and our members that are traveling on
the other side of the world. Lord, bring them safely back
to us. And again, Lord, we thank you
for your spirit that you promised to meet with us tonight. And
we thank you for your word preached. Lord, we're sinners in need of
saving. Save us, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.