If you truly, from the heart, love his kingdom, his church, his people, that's his people right there. His church, his kingdom. For her your tears fall, your cares, your toils be given. And I believe you're in his kingdom. That's what Christ did, didn't he? Gave himself for A bunch of unworthy people, a bunch of sinners. Because he loved her. And then he said, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I love you. Lay down your life for them. Love, love.

Psalm 126, go back there with me, Psalm 126. The life of every believer, every child of God is full of ups and downs, happiness, sadness, joys, sorrows, isn't it? Someone says, well, isn't everyone, everyone in the world life like that? Yes, but different, a different nature. Our Lord, when he said there's no peace for the wicked, meaning he sends troubles and judgments and people have troubles, but the trouble God's people have is of a spiritual nature that's different than the world. We have happiness and sadness, ups and downs, and we know the cause, we know the problem, sin. Happiness because sin's forgiven. Sadness because we still have them. Still have them, still commit them.

Scripture says man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. Those born of God know our real trouble, don't they? And we're happy and thankful that our troubles with God are over. They really are. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in crime. Isn't that wonderful news? When our hearts condemn us, our lives condemn us, our mouths condemn us, and on and on it goes. Put those in crime. What a blessed, blessed promise.

Mm, mm. We're like Noah and Lot right before the Lord destroyed the world they lived in. They were both vexed, weren't they? Vexed with the conversation around them and themselves. Lot was vexed because he was in Sodom and he seemed as one that mocked to his sons and vexed them. At the end, everything around them and everything within them. And they were waiting, Noah was waiting, prepared that ark, moved with fear, and that's what we're doing in it. We hope, we believe we're in Christ, the ark, and we're waiting on him to come. It's not gonna be long now.

And Lot was sitting in the gate, wasn't he? Calling, crying, well, what happened? Somebody came for him. The Lord came for him. The Psalms are songs of Zion, God's people. Many, if not most of them are cries and prayers of God's people that were in captivity and still in a land of captivity. The title of this message is the Laughter and Tears of God's People in Captivity. But we're not, the Lord has delivered us. And yet we're in Babylon. We're in this world.

Look at Psalm 126. It begins this way. When the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion. We're like them that dreamed. This is a song of bondage, from bondage to deliverance, from sadness to laughter and back again. Joy and sorrow, people of God in this world of sin.

When the Lord delivered them from captivity, when the Lord delivers us from captivity to the God of this world, He said, we were like them that dreamed. You know that most people don't know they're in captivity. This world, Paul said that maybe the Lord, if per venture the Lord through preaching will deliver them who are held captive by the God of this world. That's what he said to the preacher. And the people of this world don't know it, but they're in captivity to the God of this world. Totally under his, he's called the God of this world, the ruler of this world.

Now he can't do anything unless God allows him or lets him or directs him. That's a fact. And most people in this world are completely captive to him, the irreligious and especially the religious. And it's in Revelation, he talks about Satan's seat is right in the middle of Babylon, right in the middle, that he's in control of this and people and religion talks about deliverance, deliverance, deliverance, when they're held captive by the God of this world.

How do I know that? Because Christ is the deliverer. And only when Christ is held up like Moses lifted up that serpent on the pole, only when people look to Christ, not once, not twice, but continually look to Christ. Only if that preacher continually holds up Christ crucified before the people will they be delivered from anything and everything, from sin, from bondage, from captivity, from darkness to light. And that's the job of the true preacher. And the true preacher does that every time That's the purpose of this pulpit. That's the purpose of the preacher. That's what the people need. That's what the Bible talks about, or who, rather. He said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to me. Not every single person, but all out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto him.

And this is the key. Everybody's in captivity. Look! And that's what we do, and that's how you know. God's people, they keep looking. Preacher keeps preaching, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, why? Because we're in a world of bondage, and we get right back into it if we don't look. And how he got us out of it to begin with is, look, you don't know it, but you're dead, you're blind, you're deaf, you're dumb, you're in captivity to sin. The God that you're doing, What everybody else is doing, look unto me and be saved, our Lord said. And by his grace you did, and he delivered you.

The God of this world, in Exodus, I was gonna go back there, you know these verses. But they were in the land of Goshen. Brother John Chapman and I were talking about how this society we live in, this generation is the richest, most affluent in the history of the world. Can you believe how much money everybody has? You look in the average parking lot or wherever you go, there's new cars and new houses and on and on it goes. There's never been a richer society in the history of the world, never been poorer concerning the things of God. We were talking about And Satan, he wants you to be rich. You'll forget God. It's health and wealth gospel. That's not God's gospel. It's for the poor. It's for the needy, isn't it? And rich and crucial goods have need of nothing. You don't know. You're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and you have need. All right, you need one thing. What is that one thing, do you know? You're blessed if you do. Oh, blessed. But we were talking about that, Brother John Chapman and I, bondage to that, numbers, you know, numbers. Oh, my, David numbered Israel, God got angry with him. The truth has always been in the minority. That disciple said, Lord, are there few that be saved? Thousands and thousands and thousands followed the Lord Jesus Christ when he was on the earth, okay? Thousands flocked to hear him. When he left, there was 120 disciples, that's it. And all those thousands were crying out for him to be crucified. Many left and walked no more with him. Hmm. Captivity. Captivity to eyes and ears and sin and the God of this world.

Look, all these people can't be wrong. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Called good evil and evil good. In Exodus, they were in the land of Goshen. They had everything your hearts could desire, your flesh could desire. Flesh, that was it. They had everything. Abundance of bread and idleness, pride. Look what we've done, look what we are. God must be with us, we're blessed. God bless America. It's not one nation under God. It's one nation under God's wrath, like the rest of the world.

Is that so? You know it's so. You know it's so. The world doesn't know that. We're in Babylon. And bless God, he's delivered many of us from that. Delivered us. We know to be rich in the things of this world is not true riches. We know to be poor in spirit is true riches. We know these things.

And when the Lord, verse one, turns again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. When the Lord turns, when the Lord sends his word, when the Lord sends his gospel, The greatest goodness that God can do for somebody is like those children of Israel. They were in the land of Goshen, and the Lord started sending them hard taskmasters, started making them miserable in the midst of all their riches and all their good times. The Lord started making them wretched, miserable, poor, and they started calling on God, realizing, hey, we're in bondage, we're in captivity. We didn't know it. We are. And it caused them a one out. They cried and the Lord said, I've heard you and I'm coming down. And he did.

Who's that? Jesus cried. And when the Lord turns the captive, we're like them that dream. I thought about this. Have you ever said that sounds too good to be true? You see some offer on TV, you know, free. Anything man says is free, it's not. I do that all the time, don't you? Free download, free, free. And boy, after you go, now it's only $39.95 a month. Every time. Every time. That's too good to be true, you're right. Anything man says, if it sounds too good, it's not true. It's not true. God is true though. I thought about this. This is the only thing that's not too good to be true. Because God is good and God is true. And all his promises and all his word and everything he says and does is right, is true, is just, is forever.

Religion, you know, God wants you to be healthy and wealthy and wise and all that, and God doesn't want anything bad to happen. Well, that's too good to be true, isn't it? Isn't it? Because bad things do happen. And that's why people leave religion. Why would a God let things like that happen? But here's the good news. Bad things happen, God sends it. They say, how could a good God send a bad thing? Well, you just wait. You'll see. Because all things work together. For what? Good. Why? Because God alone is good. Nicodemus, good master, the young ruler, good master, he said, why you call me good? There's none good but God. And everything God says is not too good to be true. It's the only thing is true.

When the Lord turned our captivity, we're like them that dream. This is no dream, this is reality. We're like them that dream. It's too good to be true. No, it's not, sinner. Because God is good and it's true. Don't you love that verse, Brother John? All the promises of God in Christ are what? Yay! No yay and nay. That's what Paul said. Our preaching toward you is not yay and nay, or yes and no, and maybe, and you know, God save you, but no. It's yay. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. In fact, if you do, you already have been. Yay and nay to the glory of God by us. Yay! When the Lord did that, he said, our mouths, verse two, were filled with laughter. I'm laughing right now. I've seen a few smiles. Our mouth was filled with laughter. Singing. Singing. Our mouth was filled with laughter. Some people out in the world, lots of people under the law and don't know it, don't think they're in bondage. The Amish, the German Baptists, the Mennonites are in bondage. Dare not go out without your covering. Brothers and sisters, we've got a covering. And it ain't clothes, it's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful? And people under the law, oh, we're breaking the Sabbath. But God has shown us, we are free from the law. All the handwriting ordinances that were against us, Christ took them out of the way, laid onto the cross, free! If the Son shall make you free, you're free indeed. And when you ever find that out, if you are in false religion, if you're under bondage to the law, if He ever makes you free, you'll sing, ? Free from the law, oh, happy condition ? The Lord Jesus hath died and there is remission ? Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall ? The Lord Jesus hath saved me once for all Is there nothing for me to do? Nothing! Why, because he did it all. Boy, if you ever find out, you'll sing. When the Lord turned our captivity, our mouths were filled with laughter. Is this really true? Yes. Our lives, most of our lives are filled with sorrow, aren't they? They really are. We have some times of joy. We do, our children are born, we get married. Great, happiest day of our life. Up to that point, it really is. And then the Lord takes our mate. And it's the saddest day of our life. Isn't it? And the sorrow that you live, like Anna, the prophetess, she lived, she was a widow for 80 years. What little time she had joy with her husband. All that sorrow. She lived the rest of her days alone thinking about it. She never forgot that man. Ever. The whole of her heart. Wasn't it? Your children are born. Happiest day of your life. Oh, my, my. Mindy and I still talk about when Hannah was a little girl. We see pictures pop up, and I still think she's cutest girl ever been born. Ever. I don't care what y'all say. Blair, I don't care what you say. I still think of little things she says and does, did then. Just thrilled my heart. Then, if your children is a rebel against you, The saddest day, you know, where the Lord takes that child from you. Oh, can't be anything more sorrowful than that. So our lives are filled with these things, mostly, not mostly sorrow. The Lord set one over against the other. He's too good to give us, make us overcome completely with sorrow. and he's too good at it, but he sets the one against the other. Proverbs says to the end that you're not gonna find anything here. You're not gonna find lasting happiness and joy. You're not gonna find fulfillment. You're not gonna find contentment. You're not gonna find lasting joy. You're not gonna find it here. Where are you gonna find it? Only in him. And buddy, when this is all over, you talk about laughing. Scripture says God's gonna wipe away all tears. Never cry again. Brother Kelly and I cry when we're happy. We're delighted, we're joyful. We can't understand how we're not gonna cry up there. Tears of joy, you know. No more sorrow, no more tears. No more sin, no more death. Nobody leaving again. Everybody staying. Everybody united. Everybody loving one another. No hate, no malice. No wrath, no wars, no rumors of war. Peace! Don't you look forward to that. Oh, we're gonna laugh, all right. They say he who laughs last laughs best. That's sure, that's an absolute fact. We're gonna laugh and never stop laughing. I can't even, I can't imagine. There you are, you're laughing. Our laughter here doesn't last long, does it? We go out this door, and it all comes flooding back. We come in here and hear about sins forgiven, sins gone, promise of freedom, and then God of this world starts lashing us again. And often, I go right back to the same thing. Look at verse two. It says, when the Lord turns the captivity of Zion again, again and again. Psalm 80, he said, turn us again. Turn us again, O Lord of hosts. He says that three times. Turn us again. Turns us the first time, and he keeps turning us. If he doesn't, we'll turn back and never return. Well, when the Lord does this, saves one of his own from captivity. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. It's obvious. It's obvious when the Lord does something for someone, they are different. They don't feel it in themselves so much, but they are. They're different. Oh, yeah. I had a friend who was quite a good football player, but he was wild. You know, to be a really good football player, you have to be about half wild and want to just run it. Right, Red? Pain is not a big deal. You got to love to inflict it and receive it. Boom. You got to be about half stupid. What you got to be? A hard head. Just run into danger and you love it. Well, he was. He's wild as a Red River steer, they say. So he's a good football player, All-State. Had a full scholarship to Georgia. Four years at Georgia, a star, starter, all those years. The Lord saved him. He heard Henry Mahan preach and the Lord saved him. He became a preacher. They were good friends with Esmeralda. You know, they put that on the front page of the hometown where he was from. So-and-so got saved. They couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe it. No so-and-so. What? Look, look. John 9 is a story of a blind man. He was born blind. And the Lord came by and healed him, okay? Changed him. His eyes were open. New creature, okay? And the people came by and said, is that him? Well, it looks like him. No, that's not him. Can't be him. Look at him. It's him. He said, it's me. What happened? He said, a man named Jesus opened my eye. I once was blind, now I'm seeing. They said, well, let's ask his parents. That doesn't look like him. Is that him? That's him. We don't know what happened to him. Ephesians 2, don't you love Ephesians 2? And you hath he quickened who were what? Dead, who did what? Walked according to the course of this world. Prince of the power of the air, children of disobedience, just like everybody else. What happened? Say it. But God. That can't be so and so. It is. What happened? The Lord has done great things. The Lord did. That's what they said, they acknowledged it. And then look at what we say, verse three. Yes, the Lord hath done great things for us. We're so glad we had nothing to do with it. Aren't you glad salvations of the Lord? You wouldn't be sitting here. I wouldn't be standing here. Brothers and sister, if you'd have known me, you'd think that can't be him. That can't be him. My dad wasn't, you know, A wild per se as a young, he's just a young man and boys are boys. And at his 50th class reunion, he preached at his 50th class reunion. That's what that generation did. On Sunday, they all got together like, that's what you do. Everybody went to church. Well, they asked him, they knew he was a preacher. And he preached to all of his old classmates. Isn't that something? It's amazing. One, he has an old girlfriend. My mother, you ever quit being jealous? Well, I saw it in my mom's eyes. That old girlfriend of my dad, she said, I can't believe you're a preacher. No, Henry may have had a preacher, no way. What happened? The Lord hath done great things for us. It's the Lord. The Lord did it, man, anything to do with it. The Lord hath done great things for us. We're glad. Great things, what great things? Oh my, what great things? Oh, our God hath done great things All things, you know that? Whatever's done, our God does it. Without Him, we can do nothing. We brag on human beings about things they do. Man can't do anything, you understand me? Unless God gives him the ability to do it, and God allows him to do it. Our Lord said this to His disciples, without me, you can't do nothing. You don't know anything, can't do anything. Unless God gives you the strength, the ability, the mind, you can't do anything. Who's he talking to? Everybody. This is why God gets all the glory for anything. Man hadn't done anything. God's done it all. What you have, you have not received. Now if you've received it, why would you glory as if you did? Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the strong man glory in his strength. Let not the beautiful person their beauty. If God didn't do that for you, you wouldn't have it. Man can do nothing except what God directs and God causes and what God gives the ability to do. Whatever, whatever works there are, whatever creations there are, whatever accomplishments there are, whatever inventions there are, it is the Lord. And He gets all the glory. Without Him, nothing, nothing. He gives the mind, the will, the strength, the natural materials. I love Isaiah all through the... Isaiah talks about our Lord. He says, to whom will you compare me? There's none like me. I, the Lord, do all these things. I create good, I bring evil, I create good. I kill, I make alive, I wound, I heal, I promote, I demote, I do all these things. In Isaiah 41, he says, produce your cause. Come and tell me what you've done. Tell me. He said, declare the end from the beginning like I did. Create something out of nothing. Go ahead. How powerful is our God? How great is our God? He spoke. And it was done. Man can't create or do anything without natural material. Where did that come from? God. Man can't do anything. All of these paintings, Renoir and Degas and Monet and Manet and, you know, Picasso. Poor, inferior copies. Who can paint a sunset like that? They got one fella called Thomas Kincaid, painter of light. You can look at his sun, the sun he created and puts on that camp, you look right at it, look at it all day, it won't bother you. You can't look at that sun. Not for a minute. That's our God. Light. Our Lord Jesus Christ, you're just a man. He took three disciples up on the mountain and peeled back his robe of flesh. And they hit the desk, they couldn't look on it. Now, great God. Man's nothing. Man is nothing. He can't do nothing, he knows nothing, he is nothing. He is nothing. God spoke great things. It says in verse, I love this, the margin, you notice that? It says, He hath magnified to do them. The Lord hath done great things, He hath magnified what He has done. He's magnified them to His people. He's magnified His Word above all His name. He's magnified them to us, great things. We see them more clearly, more beautifully, more wonderfully. And when the Lord opens our eyes, we see things clearly. Romans 1, His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen, aren't they? Through the things that are made. His wrath revealed every day from heaven, Romans 1, 18. Men don't see it. They don't see it as a hand of God. We do, don't we? He's magnified these things. Are you with me? That's what that says. I love the margin. Read your margin. Look up those scriptures. He's magnified these things to us. Made them, just blown them up, look. Great things, great things. Creation, but the greatest thing of all. And men don't see this, but God's people do. His greatest work is his work of redemption. His great work, his greatest accomplishments is salvation of people. He said in Isaiah 7 to that wicked king, he said, ask me a sign, ask it deep, ask it high, and ask me something. He said, I won't do it. God said, I'm gonna show you something. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. They're gonna call his name Immanuel. God is gonna become a man. Great things. The greatest thing of all. The angel saw it when he entered that womb. The whole sky erupted. What is this? Greatest thing of all. Why is it so great? Because man is a despicable, worthless, not worth saving. He doesn't deserve a chance to be saved. He deserves to be destroyed. Every one of them, like worms. None of them calling on God. There's none seeking God. None worthy. None, none, none but God. He says, I'm God, not like you. But God, rich in mercy, for His great love. Why would He love anybody? Ain't anybody worth loving. He has to set His love on them. And once He does, it's forever. He doesn't change. No matter anything about you, no matter what you do or what you do, He doesn't change. If He set His love and His affection on you, He's not going to change. And he comes down in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, a man, God became a man. It's the greatest thing of all. Great mercy, great goodness, great grace to great sinners. It's the greatest work, greatest salvation, so great and significant. We're gonna be singing about it through glory. Great is the Lord and greatly to be prayed. for great things he had done, the greatest of which is saving worthless sinners. I'm so glad, aren't you glad? Are you glad you're here now? Great things, great things. Oh, these are a grateful people. The Lord has done great things for us. The Lord told that man who was a demoniac, remember he came and he was in the tombs, that was me. He's in the tomb cutting himself, trying to kill himself, trying to destroy himself. And every human being is gonna end up destroying themselves. Eventually, there they are, unless God delivers them from destruction, Psalm 103. You're going to destroy them, you're going to die in sin, unless God gives them faith, then they'll die in faith, and they'll never die. Aren't you glad salvation has come? You're left to yourself, you're going to destroy yourself. And that young man in the tombs was crying and cutting and doing this and doing that, the Lord Jesus Christ came by. I'm healing right there. Where are you finding? How do you know the Lord healed him? Was he changed? Was he a different person? Instead of running around trying to destroy himself, he was sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, clothed and in his right mind. What's that? The mind of Christ. Not talking, spouting, running, jumping, shouting, sitting and listening to the Son of God preach. Rejoicing over Jesus Christ. Worshipping God in spirit rejoicing in Jesus crying no confidence in the flesh. He said that flesh That was me right there a wild man. This is the Lord's doing me sitting here listening to his gospel This is the Lord do I'm so glad that he came by and spoke to me And the Lord said, after he did that to that man, he said, you go home and you tell everybody what great things the Lord has done for you. This is how you know whom God has really saved. They don't say, I got saved. They don't say, I accepted Jesus. They don't say, I let the Lord in my heart. They say, he let me into his kingdom. He accepted me. He chose me. He loved me. He gave me a new heart. He gave me repentance. He gave me faith. He did it all. I'm a nothing at all. Is that right? That separates, I didn't get saved, and it's not something I got, and I did, and I did, it's everything he did. The Lord hath saved me. That's what God's people say. I get saved. You can get saved, you can lose it. But what the Lord does is forever. Those he saves, they're saved. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Boy, your mouth will be filled with laughter when you find out the Lord saved you. And he gave you eternal life and you'll never perish. That'll make you laugh. It's not too good to be true. It's the only thing that's not too good to be true. But look at verse four. Turn us again. Turn again, oh Lord, our captivity. Turn again, our captivity. David, man at the God's own heart, he's in about his 40s. I used to think he was 50. No, he's in his 40. He was lollin' around the house and you know what happened. And boy, he committed his worst sin. He thought I'm, he didn't know he was, he didn't know he was in such a bad state for about a year. He didn't know it. Until a preacher named Nathan came and said, and David got mad at this person, that person, until the preacher came and said, you're the man. And he wrote Psalm 51. Right back where he started, wasn't he? Have mercy on me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness. According to the multitude, thy tender mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done deceit. You're gonna be clear when you speak. You're gonna be just when you judge me. If you send me to hell right now, I'll deserve it. I don't deserve it. Oh, Lord God. Wash me, purge me with hyssop and I'll be clean. Restore unto me the, created me a clean heart. Don't you have a new heart, David? Well, I thought I did. Created me a right spirit. Don't you have a right spirit? No, I'm acting like I don't even know the Lord. Wash me throughly from my iniquity. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He ain't laughing anymore, he's crying. Every day, he says, my tears have been my meat day and night. Why? My sin, oh, my sin. What's wrong with me? Anybody? Everybody, let the Lord say. How could I revert right back? How could I get back into captivity? Why did Israel get in captivity? Why? They did it to themselves. And if you read Second Chronicle, I wrote it now, 20, I forget, read anywhere. And what happened was they got back in the world, mingled with the world, and they brought the world and the church, and they were in the world, and they were acting just like it. And they lost God, and they were in captivity, in bondage. And the Lord showed, look at you, you've done this to yourself. You weren't listening to me. You forgot everything I said. You went out there, you didn't gather with the saints, you forgot. You're right back where you started, aren't you? Anybody? Oh, he says, turn again like the streams in the south. Deep south. Some of you from the deep south, Alabama, Palmerdale. That's why Robin talks so funny. Deep south, in the deep south in the summertime, it's hot and it's dry and it gets real dry. It's real dry. This world is a dry and a thirsty place. There's one source of water. If we leave it, we're going to go out there and we're going to get dry. In the hot summer, heat, streams dry up. No water. God's so good. Streams of mercy never ceasing. Are you with me? We get dry, we get dead, we get out in the world, we get worldly, so rich in Christmas goods and forget God. How could we do that? Aren't you glad he said I can't forget? Aren't you glad? There shouldn't be anything make you more glad right now than God cannot forget his covenant, that God says, I won't forget you. You may be a thief on the cross, and you ask to be remembered. He said, today. You'll be with me in paradise. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Oh, I'm prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. If you don't take and seal it, if you don't keep me, I won't be kept. Is this your song? It's my song. I was feeling too down. Feeling sorry for myself. We all do that, don't we? We're real good. We're full of pity for us, for me. And he'd take it out on everybody. Lord, please speak to me. And you know, I just opened up to these pages right here in every song. I lift up mine eyes unto the hills from which cometh my help. I was glad when they said unto me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Unto thee lift up mine eye. Behold, as the eyes of a maid looks to her mistress, our eyes look upon you. If it hadn't been the Lord's on our side. These are scriptures. They that trust in the Lord be like Mount Zion, they won't be moved. Oh, and he turned our captivity again. Oh, was I glad to read this. Blessed is everyone that fears the Lord. Streams of mercy never ceases. Like the streams in the South. They dry up, He fills them up again. They keep flowing. Look at verse five. I got the clue. You see, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless without a doubt. We say without a shadow of a doubt. Does that sound like a scripture? Our God with whom there's no shadow of turning. Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves We used to sing that song, you remember that song? ? Bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep ? We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheep You know who this is speaking of primarily? Jesus Christ. He is the precious seed. He is the one that brought it, didn't he? He is that with strong crying and tears, Hebrews says, that God heard him for his strong crying and tears. and brought this precious seed, and he shall doubtless come again." Well, we were joyous. Bringing his shield with him. Isn't that wonderful? And they that sow in tears, as he is, so are we. Turn to, in closing, Jeremiah 31. You're gonna be glad. You're gonna be glad you read this. You're gonna have tears of joy, and you're gonna have tears of sorrow and laughter when you read this. I hope. Jeremiah 31. But those that sow in tears, didn't He say, blessed are they that mourn? Didn't He? They'll be comforted. They'll be comforted. Blessed are they that mourn. Those that sow in tears, our Lord was on the way to the cross. You remember? He was on the way to the cross and the women were weeping over Him. Rightfully so, but he stopped in all his pain, all his suffering. He stopped and turned to them and says, weep not for me. This is what God did. I must do this. I must go to the cross. If I don't, you have no part in me. You won't be saved if I don't go to the cross. The scriptures must be fulfilled. Don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Didn't he say that? Jeremiah 9, he said, mothers, bring your daughters and teach them weeping and lamentation. Tell them, you need to cry out of the Lord. Stop your laughing, let your laughter be turned to mourning. Why? Because that's where the heart is changed. A broken heart is the only good heart. What we're seeing, teach them weeping. Don't weep for me, Christ said. Don't feel sorry for me, but feel sorry for your children. Weep for them, weep for them. Cry unto the Lord for them, day and night, with tears. Those that weep with tears. He promised, he said this. And those that bear precious seed, you know. Here I am preaching the gospel. This is precious seed. Why do I do this? I know this is the power of God. I know this. This is what he used on me. Ron, this is what he used on me. And I had a faithful pastor that did this. Thank God, I'm so glad. And finally one day I heard his voice. But they were worried about me. They were weeping over me. They had no idea if the Lord was gonna save me or not, but he did. How? One way. This is precious seed. This is all we do, why? Because it's the power of God and the salvation. This is all God uses to save wretched sinners in captivity. This is it. Not programs, not this and that and the other. Gospel preaching. Christ lifted up. His Word proclaimed and declared. This is it. The power of God is His Word. He spoke. Well, here's my joy and rejoicing. My hope that those that bear precious seed, weeping with a burden, shall doubtless. Somebody's gonna come again. They're gonna come again. You see, I can't hear, here's, I can't get anybody to come to Christ. I can't do it. It sure ain't my personality. It sure ain't my looks. Mandy said, you need to powder your head. It's shining on the TV screen. I can't do anything about that. I can't get anybody to come. I can't get anybody to come. I can't get anybody to stay. I can't fix nothing. All I can do is break it. But he that goeth forth with precious seed, weeping, will doubtless come again with joy. I'm gonna bring him, I'm gonna bring him in spite of you. That's what God said. Look at Jeremiah 31, verse 15. A voice was heard in Ramah. His people, lamentation, bitter weeping. Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted because her children were not, were not what? Saved! There sits a Rachel. There sits one. There, there, and there. Those men in the study, every one of them have lost children. Every one. Thus saith the Lord, verse 16, refrain thy voice from weeping, thine eyes from tears. One place he says, let your laughter be turned to tears. Here he says, let it be turned to joy. Why? You're going to be rewarded. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. It ain't over, brother. You ain't over. Sister, you know, the Lord hasn't come back yet. The door's still open. The gospel's still preaching. Is there hope? We're saved by hope. Lift up your head. We're gonna see some of them come through that door. There's hope, verse 17, in that end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again. Is this true, preacher? It sure is. Here I am. Like that demoniac, living proof, living proof that the Lord is able, if he's willing, to bring him again. Aren't you glad to serve the Lord? I am. I'd have quit this a long time ago. I feel like a miserable failure. I am. But his word didn't fail. I tell you, people, maybe I'm feeling sorry for myself right now. I hope I'm not, but sometimes I think you're the worst preacher ever. Well, it doesn't depend on the preacher. It doesn't depend on him, his personality, anything about him. It depends on the Lord, His Word, His power. And I know that. And I just feel like without a shadow of a doubt, our God is true to his word, and I feel like we're gonna see some of his people, your children, walk through those doors. Won't that be something? You talking about laughing? You talking about laughing? Isn't the Lord good? Yes, he is. Let's believe it. All right, 449.