Turn with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 130. I'm thankful to our Lord for
bringing our brother Cody and Jared back safely to us. They
just walked in, and I thought, what a blessing. They went and
had the privilege of preaching the gospel. I pray the Lord blessed
it and blessed their time together. Great privilege. Glad to see
you. Psalm 130, verse 4 says, But there is forgiveness with
thee. There is forgiveness with thee. Have you ever needed forgiveness? Have you ever had to say to somebody,
I beg you to forgive me? You ever had to say that? How often do we have to say that
to our God? Lord, I beg you to forgive me. How often do we say that? Forgive
me, Lord, please forgive me. How often do you say that? Lord,
forgive me. You know when a sinner will truly
cry that? It's when he's down in the depths.
when he's down in the depths. Verse one says, out of the depths. The depths is a place that God's
people get to know very well. It's a place God's people get
to know very well. It's a place that God's people
are constantly in, in the depths. In the depths. And you know it
when you're in there. David was there and he knew it. He knew it. Verse one, he said,
out of the depths have I cried unto thee. Out of the depths
have I cried. Lord, that's where I am. That's
where I'm crying to you from the depths. We can enter into that, can't
we? The depths, the depths of what? Well, the depths of fear. The depths of fear. We know that
our God is sovereign over all things, don't we? We know that
our God is sovereign over all things. We know that, don't we? We know that. We know that. We know that our God is in control
of all things. We know that he's doing all things.
We know that everything is ordered and everything is purposed. We
know that. But we can't help it. I can't help it and we can't
help it. There are times when we become afraid. Sometimes we can't help it. We're
drowning in the depths of fear. We're drowning in the depths
of anxiety, anxiousness. Drowning in the depths of worry. Do you ever worry about anything? You know, we don't have to, but
we do. Do you ever worry about things
so much you can't focus on anything but that one thing that you're
worried about? Do you ever do that? Just completely swallowed up
by fear and worry and sorrow. Have you ever been so far down
in the depths of sorrow you would love to smile but your face muscles
just won't do it? You know what I'm talking about? When you're in that place, you're
in a place of the depths of need. That place is the depths of need. Helpless, hopeless need. And when you're down that low,
there's only one place to turn. There's only one place to look. There's only one person to cry
out to for help. Verse 1 says, Out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord. O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. Lord, out of the depths I'm crying
to you. Hear me. Lord, would you hear me all the
way down here at the bottom? Would you please hear me all
the way down here at the bottom? Turn with me over to Psalm 69. Our brother David was here a
lot and I'm glad he was because we're here a lot. Psalm 69 verse
1, he cried, save me, oh God, for the waters are come in unto
my soul. I sink in deep mire where there
is no standing. I am come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried. Mine eyes
fail while I wait for my God. Oh, hear me. Please hear me. Lord, please hear me. I'm crying.
Thank God every time he says to his people, I do and I will. In the day of your trouble, and
I mean real trouble, deep trouble, he says, I will hear you. I'll
hear you. Throughout the recent years of
all these little ones being born in this congregation, we're on
a little bit of a hiatus at the moment, but for a while there,
we had little one after little one after little one. and more
so in our old building than in this new building, but while
we were in the middle of a service, just think back just a short
distance to the other building for a minute, and while we were
in the middle of the service and those little babies were
in the depths of the nursery, down there in the depths, Down there in their little sorrow
and their little fear, when they would cry out to their moms, their moms would hear them. In
that old building, we all heard them. But the one that always went
running was the mother of that baby. And you all would say,
I'm so sorry, and I tried to hold off, I tried, it never bothered
me, it doesn't bother me at all. But the mother would get up and
go to that baby, and I don't think we ever had, I don't know
this, maybe not, but I don't know that we ever had an instant
of two mothers both getting up thinking it was their baby crying.
I don't think so. One baby would cry. One mother
would get up. That baby would be down there
in the depths crying, Mama, please. And that mother would hear that
baby's cry. And that mother is tuned in to
that baby's cry the moment that mother hears it. And that mother would know that's
My little babies cry. We had a bunch of babies in that
nursery. That's my little one crying down
there in his or her fear and sorrow and worry and need and
that mother would get up and go answer that cry. What a beautiful thing that is.
It never bothered me because that's such a beautiful thing. Lord, as a father pitieth his
children, as a mother comes running to the cry, hear my voice, hear
my voice, please hear me. Go back to Psalm 130. Verse one says, out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attended to the voice of my supplications. Now, here
is the arresting truth that comes to all of God's people. Verse
three says, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who
shall stand? If thou shouldest mark iniquities,
if thou shouldest mark iniquities, he does. He does. Look with me at Psalm 90. Psalm 90 verse 8, it says, Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee. Our secret sins in the light
of thy countenance. Thou hast sent our iniquities
before thee. Our secret sins in the light
of thy countenance. The things we know about, the
things we don't know about. You just think about this. The
things you know about haunt you. Can you imagine what all you
don't know about? The sin you've committed before God? He has marked, He has recorded,
He has remembered. He has remembered every sin that
we have ever committed. Verse eight says, thou hast set
our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy
countenance. Look with me at Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 1, it says, Oh
Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down
sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there's
not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all
together. He knows everything about me, even every sinful word that comes
out of my mouth, every sinful thought that enters my mind. He knows everything about me,
every sin I've ever committed. Doesn't that make you want to
say, I am sorry? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I beg of you, Lord, to forgive
me. David cried in Psalm 51, have mercy on me. Forgive me. Forgive my transgressions, forgive
my sin, according to your loving kindness and according to the
multitude of your tender mercies. Forgive me. When the Spirit of God Almighty
speaks the gospel to one of God's broken, hurting, down in the
depths sinners, when the Spirit of God speaks to the heart, and
brings the message of the gospel, the message of peace to one of
God's broken down in the depths sinners. Do you know what he
says? This is what he says. There is forgiveness with me.
Isn't that good news? There is forgiveness with me. There is a place, there is a
way of peace and forgiveness. And that way is in the blood
that was shed for your sin. The more we come to know of our
sin, the more we come to love that
blood. There is a place of peace. There's a place of forgiveness. And it's in the blood that was
shed for your sin. In the blood of Jesus Christ,
there is forgiveness. There's forgiveness. Look at
Psalm 86 with me. Psalm 86, verse one, it says,
bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am holy,
and that means one whom thou favorest. O thou, my God, save
thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O
Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant,
for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Now watch verse five.
For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and plenteous
in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. That is such good
news. David said, I'm crying for forgiveness,
and here's the reason I'm crying. It's because you're so ready
to forgive. So ready to forgive. Thou art good and plenteous in
mercy. Plenteous in blood. Ready to
forgive. Oh, how beautiful that is to
a soul who desperately needs forgiveness. Oh, how beautiful
that is. Lord, according to your word,
according to your mercy, according to your grace, according to your
blood, there is forgiveness with you. Thank God you are ready
to forgive. Look with me at Jeremiah 31.
Jeremiah 31 verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was in husband unto them, saith the
Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will
be their God, and they shall be my people, and they shall
teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
know the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. Now watch this.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more." That's such good news to me. Our Lord said, there is so much
forgiveness for sin with me. You know, Christ really did come
to save sinners. I mean true sinners. I mean the
people who you look at them and you think, not that one. No,
you've gone too far. You're off the list. Our Lord said there is so much
forgiveness for sin with me. I won't even remember it anymore.
That's a mystery of godliness. We say it's because Christ put
it away, but that's still a mystery of godliness. If Lord, if you mark iniquities,
even secret iniquities, how can you remember them no more? The blood of the Lamb of God
washed him away. In Christ, they're all taken
away, away. That's forgiveness. That's forgiveness. You know, people say, I forgive
you, but I'll never forget. That's not forgiveness. Sins so forgiven, they don't
even exist anymore. So forgiven, it's like we never
even sinned in the first place. That's forgiveness. That is beautiful
forgiveness. Go with me to 1 John 1. 1 John
1. Verse 5 says, This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth
us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just. Faithful and just to forgive
our sins. Faithful with His blood. If we
confess our sin, Lord, I need Your blood. I need blood. because I have sinned. If we
confess our sins, he is faithful with his blood, and he is just
to forgive because of his blood. Because his faithful blood demands
it, justly demands it, because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. Charles Spurgeon said, during
this last week, I've been with Brother Offord, conducting prayer
meetings. And he told one evening a tale
which I made him tell every evening afterwards, for I thought it
so good. He said there was a poor man
living on Dartmoor who had been employed during the summer in
looking after horses and cows and so on that were turned out
on the moor. He was a perfect heathen. I mean,
he was a true sinner. and never went to a place of
worship, perhaps since he was a child. For him, there was no
Sabbath. After a time, he grew very ill. He was over 60 years of age,
and having nothing to live upon, he went into the workhouse. While
he was there, it pleased the mysterious spirit to make him
uneasy as to his soul. He felt that he must die and
the old man had just enough light to let him see that if he did
die, all was wrong with the regard to a future state. He had a little
grandchild who lived in a neighboring town, Plymouth, I think it was.
And he asked leave for his grandchild to come in every day to see him.
As he was very ill and near death, that was allowed. She came in
and he said to her, Read the Bible to me, dear. She complied,
and the more she read, the more wretched the old man grew. Read
again, said he. The more she read, the more dark
his mind seemed to be with a sense of guilt. At last, one day, she
came to that passage in the first epistle of John, you know it.
The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Is that there, he asked. Yes,
grandfather, replied the little girl, that is there. Is that
there? Oh yes, grandfather, it is there.
Then read it again, read it again. She again read, the blood of
Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. My dear, are
you sure it is just like that? Yes, grandfather. Then read it
again, dear. The blood of Jesus Christ, his
son, cleanseth us from all sin. Then, he said, take my finger
and put it on that verse. Is it on that text, child? Is
my finger on that blessed text? Yes, grandfather. Then, said
he, tell them, alluding to his friends, that I die in the faith
of that. And he closed his eyes and doubtless
entered into eternal rest. And I will die in the faith of
that truth by the grace of God, And so will you, I trust. Brethren
and sisters, dive with your finger on that text. The blood of Jesus
Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Oh, there is forgiveness
with him in the blood of his son. Let me finish reading our psalm
and I'll close. All right, go back to Psalm 130. Psalm 130, here is the cry. Verse
one says, out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Here is
the fear. Verse three says, if thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Here is the
hope. Verse four says, but there is
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. I wait for
the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My
soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the
morning. I say more than they that watch for the morning. Now
here is the assurance. Verse seven says, let Israel
hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy,
and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from
all his inequities. According to his word, the faithful
promise of his word, and the absolute surety of his word,
he shall redeem Israel from all his inequities. What beautiful
forgiveness there is in the blood of Jesus Christ.