It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for Lord, that could not be. Yuba-Sutter Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick
Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba
County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville,
California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services
are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information,
visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda. The scripture for our sermon
today is Psalm 130. 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. If Thou,
Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 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. 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 iniquities. I've entitled this sermon, There
is Forgiveness. Out of the depths have I cried
unto Thee, O Lord. Why would any man so cry to God? Because God brought the guilt
of his conscience and the corruptions of his nature to weigh upon him
as a heavy burden. His sins and his sinfulness have
come into his soul as a flood. He sinks in the deep mire of
his guilt and shame, his filth and corruptions in light of God's
word. He is in despair because of his
sin. But isn't this a psalm of David?
David is the king. Why would a king so cry? King
David was indescribably wealthy. He could command his servants
to provide him with all the comforts and pleasures of earth. Why would
a king so cry? Because his sin had become a
plague in his heart. It was a disease that he could
not cure. No man in his vast kingdom could
cure his disease. The most powerful king, the richest
king, the wisest king, the one who could command every comfort
and pleasure, could not lift one sin from his own conscience
before God. God made his sin the problem
of his soul. until God brings me low before
Him because of my sin, until God causes what offends Him to
be my greatest offense, until I own all my sin as all my fault,
until I believe that God is just in condemning me for my many
and great sins, and until I see that sin is what I am, until
I know that I have sinned against God only, and only God can forgive
me. Only then will I cry to Him out
of the depths. Men cry out of the depths when
God burdens their conscience with their sin in the preaching
of His gospel. No man can lift that burden,
not even a king. Sin is against God only. Therefore, the cry God brings
from a sinner is to the Lord alone. If I am not a sinner,
I need no forgiveness from God. If I have no sin or if I have
not sinned against God, then I don't need His forgiveness
and I will not cry out of the depths. If I need only a little
forgiveness for little sins, or if I only need forgiveness
for some sins, then I must bear the full weight of God's justice
against my sins, not only in my conscience, but in my body
and soul throughout eternity. The psalmist continues, Hear
my voice, let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. We only cry to God when only
God can help. This is a sad fact. True prayer
is prayer that God draws forth from our soul in trouble when
we have no strength and can do nothing to help ourselves. Over
and over in Psalm 107, this truth is illustrated. Verse 5 says,
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble. Can you hear the heart of a broken
and helpless sinner in this cry? Hear my voice. Do you need this
one thing above all others that the Lord would hear your prayer
and have mercy on you, a sinner? then you will join the psalmist.
Hear my voice." He goes on, "'If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand?' God is just. He will by no means
clear the guilty." And he raises this question from the heart
of a desperate sinner. "'If the Lord should mark iniquities,
who shall stand?' The hymn writer, Thomas Binney, said, Eternal
light, eternal light, how pure that soul must be, who in place
within thy burning sight, shrinks not, but with calm delight can
live and look on thee. The spirits that surround Thy
throne may bear that burning bliss, for surely they have never,
never known a fallen soul as this. But how shall I, whose
native sphere is dark, whose mind is dim, before The Ineffable
appear, and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated being? There
is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode, an offering and
a sacrifice, a Holy Spirit's energies and advocate with God. These, these prepare us for the
sight of holiness above. The sons of ignorance and night
may dwell with the eternal light through the eternal love. Lord, if Thou shouldst mark iniquities,
who shall stand? That little word, if, is from
God's own word. Though the soul that sinneth
it shall die, yet here is a sunbeam of divine logic that streams
forth as light from the pages of Holy Scripture. God says in
Isaiah 118, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Yes, God is just. Yes, He will
by no means clear the guilty. Yet not all of the sons of Adam
are banished eternally in everlasting perdition. The question, therefore,
gives cause for hope. Though the Lord is holy, though
he is just, yet by his word here he does not impute sin to those
whom he makes to stand. What cause can we find that the
Lord would not impute iniquities? What just ground does He give?
The motivation is in His grace alone. If God forgives any, He
will forgive out of His pure grace alone. And if God does
not forgive by His grace alone, then He will not forgive at all.
God said, if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise
grace is no more grace. We are justified freely by His
grace. Romans 3.24. If the Lord should
mark iniquity, any iniquity, even one, none could stand. Therefore, when God forgives
sin, He forgives all sin. 1 John 1.7 says, 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, cleanses us from all
sin. The light in which we walk is
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. We walk by faith. We look to Christ only. In the
gospel alone do we see how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Why does God not keep account
of iniquities for His people? Why does He not hold their sins
against them? There is but one cause alone,
because He is gracious. In His grace He found a Redeemer,
one who is mighty. Psalm 89, 19 says, I have laid
help on one that is mighty. God does not charge His elect
for their sins, because He charged Christ for them. God can forgive
His people, because He did not forgive His Son. And the psalmist
continues, but Never was there a more gracious word in all the
words ever written in the world than this word, but God. No man
cared for my soul, but God. Men express sympathy, but man's
sympathy has no strength to deliver, even from sickness and death,
much less from sin, but God. My sin is against God. But God,
by His grace alone, has saved His people from their sins. This
little word is the great word of grace in scripture. It means
in spite of me, in spite of my offense against God, in spite
of my rebellion, in spite of my perversity, in spite of my
crooked deceit and unbelief, in spite of all that I am, God
has spared. He has found a ransom, Job 33,
24. All that is in me cries out for
God's judgment, but God Ephesians 2 says, "...you who were dead
in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, But God, who is rich in mercy, for
his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are
saved. John Newton, who wrote that familiar
song, Amazing Grace, also wrote this song. In evil long I took
delight, Unawed by shame or fear, Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood, Who fixed his languid eyes on me, As near
his cross I stood. Sure, never to my latest breath
can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his
death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned
the guilt, and plunged me into despair. I saw my sins his blood
had spilt, and helped to nail him there. Alas, I knew not what
I did. But now my tears are vain, where
shall my trembling soul be hid? For I, the Lord, have slain."
A second look he gave, which said, I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom
paid. I'll die that thou mayest live. Thus, while His death my sin
displays in all its blackest hue, such is the mystery of grace
it seals my pardon too. With pleasing grief and mournful
joy my spirit now is filled, that I should such a life destroy,
yet live by Him I killed. And the psalmist in Psalm 130
goes on, but there is forgiveness with thee. Here is the revelation
of the eternal riches of God's grace. This is the golden truth,
the promise of life to sinners. There is forgiveness with thee.
God did not spare the angels that sinned, but cast them down
to hell, 2 Peter 2.4. He did not spare the world of
the ungodly in the days of Noah, but swallowed up millions in
the flood of his judgment. God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah,
who in their proud perversity judged Lot for judging them. God did not spare Egypt or Egypt's
king, who held his chosen people in cruel bondage, but he delivered
them up to pestilence and death. And God did not spare the greater
part of the nation of Israel for their unbelief, but cut them
out of the church, which is the true olive tree. Therefore, well
would any sinner wonder that there is forgiveness with the
Lord. God is just. Every sin must be punished. What hope, then, is there for
one so ungodly as me? Though there is no cause in me
for forgiveness, yet God says, He justifieth the ungodly. Romans 4, verse 5. There is no
forgiveness apart from Christ. There is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Though God
did not spare these, He did not forgive these. He did spare His
remnant people. Romans 9.29 says, except the
Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom and Gomorrah. But how could a just God spare
the elect, because in themselves they are nothing but ungodly
and unrighteous? Only this He can forgive His
people, because He did not spare His Son. He did not spare Him,
but delivered Him up for us all. Romans 8, verse 32. O Spirit
of God, bind and seal this truth to my heart, that in Christ there
is forgiveness with Thee, because God did not forgive His Son.
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Little children,
your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. 1 John 2, verse
14. You who look to Christ for all
in salvation, who renounce your own will, who renounce your own
worth, who renounce your own works and loathe your own sin,
and dare not think for a moment that God can accept one thing
from you, but who look only to Christ, know this, from God's
Word there is forgiveness with thee." And then he says, "...that
thou mayest be feared. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, but no sinner will ever fear the Lord unless God
first gives full and free forgiveness." We are sinners. We cannot fear
God as sons until we are let go from our bondage of sin. God told Moses to command Pharaoh,
let my people go that they may serve me. Only the soul that
knows God has forgiven him freely, justified him by his grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, with no conditions found
in the sinner, but for Christ's sake alone, on the sole ground
of his blood and righteousness, only that one will be awestruck
with a holy reverence for God. only those who know that salvation
is in Christ alone and know God has saved them in Christ can
truly love God. In Luke 747 Jesus said, to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. But when we know
that we owed an eternal debt And when we have nothing to pay
God, for Christ's sake alone, frankly and freely forgave us
all, then we will fear His goodness. We will realize that God only,
because He is good, determined, purposed, and found the reason
of pure grace in Himself to give His only begotten Son, and did
not spare him, but delivered him up to justice to suffer the
punishment my sins deserved, then I will stand in awe that
I have only him to thank, him to worship, him to fear, that
he did not throw me over the precipice his justice demanded,
but interposed his own blood in answer to his own justice. Oh, how can I not tremble at
his goodness to me in Christ? And the psalmist continues, he
says, I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in his word
do I hope. The enemies of my soul threaten
to bring me into the pit of destruction. I hear their clamoring. I have
but one confidence and one hope. I look to Christ crucified, risen,
reigning, and interceding for me. How do I know that I, a guilty,
foul, shameful, helpless, justly condemned sinner, can hope in
Christ? Only this, His own word. From the depths of my conscious
awareness of my guilt and corruptions before God, I tremble in my soul
that I would be left unforgiven, uncovered, exposed in all my
nakedness before God in all His holiness. And into this black
darkness shines the bright light of the Gospel. Be it known unto
you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. Acts 13, 38. The forgiveness
of sins? By this man, Christ Jesus the
Lord? This is God's word. Therefore,
in him alone do I hope. I will come to him. with a look
of need and dependence and expectation, that wisdom and righteousness
and strength is not in me, nor will it ever be found in me,
but in Him alone. And I see that God's own Holy
Spirit has given testimony from the throne of heaven to sinners
that Christ is a great Savior of great sinners." 1 Timothy
1.15 is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. But what assurance can a foul
sinner have? What hope can one have who is
continually bombarded and assaulted by the sin of his own mind and
body? Can God forgive me? Can God deliver
me from my sins? Is there hope for a justly damned
sinner with no strength, one who is dead in sins? The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The
strength, the obedience, the faith, the prayers that God hears,
the salvation, all that is required come from my substitute, my surety,
my mediator, my advocate, my ruling and reigning intercessor,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The psalmist says, my soul waits
for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say,
more than they that watch for the morning. Waiting is not a
one-time act. Believing sinners continuously
look to Christ as all their standing and hope before God. The just
shall live by faith. Enemies attack at night. Watchmen
strain to listen for any sign of the enemy. The enemy of my
soul is my own sin, my guilt, my corruptions, my unbelief. And because of my sin, the devil
and the world and God's law and death are all my enemies. In light of these enemies of
my soul, what is my one longing desire? It is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is my sin-bearer. He is my
righteousness. Romans 5.21 says, As sin hath
reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. My victory is in my
Captain. He ran the race. He overcame. He nailed the accusations of
God's law that were against me to His cross, having answered
every charge by His obedience and blood, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Colossians
2.14 Christ is my only answer. He is my complete answer. He
is my advocate and my intercessor. God can and will only hear him. Therefore, when my name is called,
I will wait for Him to answer. I will present myself to Him
as a great sinner with many great sins. I come as a foul and shameful
sinner and cry, as it says in Psalm 35, plead my cause, O Lord,
with them that strive with me. Fight against them that fight
against me. Take hold of shield and buckler,
and stand up for my help. Draw out also the spear and stop
the way against them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, I am thy
salvation. Psalm 35, verses 1-3. In verse
7 of Psalm 130 it says, Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the
Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.
What hope does a sinner have? Only one. It is the Lord against
whom I have sinned. How can a sinner hope in the
Lord? Not because of anything he finds in himself. There is
but one reason alone. Because with the Lord there is
mercy and plenteous redemption. What is this mercy? What is this
redemption that is in the Lord? Mercy is withholding just punishment
from the guilty. It is providing relief to the
miserable and help to the helpless. Redemption is setting the imprisoned
debtor free from all debt and from prison by payment of a ransom. The ransom price God required
is the blood of His own dear Son. Christ Jesus came into the
world to give Himself a ransom for many, Matthew 20, verse 28. He gave Himself to God in obedience
and sacrifice, not for Himself, but for those God gave to Him.
It is to God we owe our immortal souls for the debt of our sins,
but we have nothing to pay. When we were thus bankrupt, lawfully
held under the curse of God's law, Christ Jesus stepped forward
and paid himself to God as a justice-satisfying propitiation. In Isaiah 53.11
it says, The Lord shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Therefore, all for whom Christ
gave himself in death as a ransom to God's justice are redeemed
by his blood. They are forgiven. Their transgressions
are lifted. Their sins are covered. The Lord
does not impute their sins to them because he charged Christ
with those sins. He hath made him sin for us."
2 Corinthians 5, 21. God forgives those for whom Christ
died. God not only pardons the guilty,
But he shows to all that in Christ they have not only been forgiven
their sins, but they have actually fulfilled the full righteousness
of his law. Both the penal curse and the
precept of God's law were fulfilled by Christ on their behalf. Christ
answered God's law in their place. Christ's answer is a plenteous
redemption. There is payment enough for all
of God's elect, both Jews and Gentiles. There is a profuseness
of pardon, an abundance of pardon. Justice now sides with the accused
to answer every accusation against their accuser. Romans 8.33 Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. God's justice delights in Christ's obedience unto death.
God therefore justifies his people. He shows all that in Christ they
are just, they are righteous. Not only are they not guilty
of all charges, not only are they not condemned, but Christ
has worked out a perfect righteousness for them with which God himself
can find no blemish. Romans 5 verse 9, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. And in
the last verse of Psalm 130, And he shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities. Isaiah 54 verse 5 says, Thy maker
is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall he
be called. The maker of the church is the husband of the church.
Christ is married to his people. Marriage between a man and a
woman is God's design. It teaches a much greater reality,
the eternal union of Christ and his people. In eternity, God
the Father gave a people to Christ to redeem. Christ gave himself
for them. His blood is the price of their
redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world according to the
will and decree of God. Romans 13.8 and 1 Peter 1.18-20 Jesus Christ obligated himself
to God in eternity for his espoused people. Then, in time, he came
into the world, gave himself a ransom for them. He purchased
the church with his own blood, Acts 20, verse 28. Those he espoused
in marriage to himself in divine election, he redeemed in time. He calls all these in open marriage
in their conversion by His Spirit. He gives them His own Spirit.
They are one with Him in eternal election, one with Him in legal
representation as their covenant head, one with Him in nature,
and one with Him in Spirit. The eternally chosen people of
God are a holy nation. They are the true Israel of God. 1 Peter 2.9 Christ redeemed them By His own blood He entered once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Hebrews
9.12. The us whom Christ redeemed are
the elect of God, the children of promise, those whose hearts
God circumcises, those who have no confidence in their flesh,
whose only confidence and boast is Jesus Christ. Now, in this
verse, in Psalm 130, verse 8, the reason for hope and confidence
is given. It is this. The Lord shall redeem
Israel from all his iniquities. The Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is our Redeemer. Our Redeemer, our Husband, our
Maker. Therefore, Christ is the Husband
of the Church, the Creator of the Church, the Lord Jehovah.
He is God over all. Our Redeemer cannot fail. He
is Almighty God. Will God forgive my sins? He will redeem Israel from all
his iniquities. Therefore, let all who look to
Christ alone hope in the Lord. You've just heard a sermon by
our pastor, Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or
by phone, or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our
website at ysgracechurch.com.