I'll try to debrief this morning. I am truly thankful for this
church. You know I'm thankful for your
pastor and his wife and family. It's just grace that he would
be a friend to me. But I'm thankful over the years
that I've known you that the Lord has caused so many of you
to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
rejoice in that. And as I said, I'm thankful for
your pastor, but I told him that I may well embarrass him this
morning. You may be sitting there thinking,
why in the world did I ask this fellow? But yesterday afternoon, I kind
of committed my mind to try to preach to you this
morning from Hebrews 10.14, one of those verses that was read
earlier. But don't turn in your Bibles
there. Because as some of you know,
my wife, last night at the end of the service, got very sick. And when she gets sick, she gets
sick. And so we hurried back to the
motel and to that good room you provided for us and she got sicker. And for a while I was beginning
to wonder if I might have to take her somewhere and get some
help for her. She got sick and I'm trying to
help her. It just gets worse. I'm praying and asking the Lord to help her. I'm thinking things
like this too. You know, Lord, I've got to preach
in the morning. Lord, you know we're a long way
from home. Lord, you know how powerless
I am to do anything for, really. I'm not even a good nurse. And as I tried to pray and ask
the Lord as best I could from my heart, plea for Him to help us. He did. She's here this morning. And I lay there last night looking
at her, watching her, trying to make sure she's not having
some problem or difficulty, you know, Like you'd watch a child
maybe at night just sleeping, as we say, with one eye open. And all this time I'm pleading,
praying, asking the Lord for help. Because I'll be honest with you. If you want to kind of rattle
my cage, just let something happen to my family, especially to my wife. Forty-six years, the 17th of
July. And so I laid there and I kind
of Tumbled and tossed and prayed and begged I'm sure if you had seen me you
would have said what a pitiful soul he is And I was reminded of how much
I need the Lord And so I got up this morning
and I I got some coffee and tried to
gather myself up and look at my notes. I've got them right
here. That's a pretty good message,
I thought. But it just went away from me.
These preachers know what I'm talking about. It just went cold
on me. And so I began reading some things
more for my own comfort, more for my own health than anything
else. And I kind of arrived at a point
that I was like Esther when she went before the king. I said,
Lord, I'm going with this, and if I perish, I perish. But I was reading in Mr. Spurgeon's morning and evening
devotions, and I was way behind, as always is the case with us.
But I think it was like on the 28th or so of July, he had a
little article and there was a devotion based on some words
in Hosea. And in that book of Hosea, the
Lord says concerning His people, in their affliction, they will
see Me early. And I know that that has reference,
first of all, in our experience in the Lord bringing us to be
afflicted of soul in the matter of our sin. You see, no sinner
ever calls upon God except out of desperate need, a need that
has to be revealed to him or her by the Spirit of God, a need
that he shows us when He brings to us in the power of His Spirit
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what occurred to me is that
that is not only the beginning of our experience, that is our
experience. He said, in their affliction,
They will seek me early." And then he had a statement in it,
and this statement is really what struck me first. Because
not only do I believe in my heart that it is true, but I believe
that in my experience, I've found it to be true. He said, Blessed are the waves that wash the mariner upon the
rock of salvation. I live down by the beach, by
the water, the ocean. And I've often described the
experience of the Lord's people in this way. It's like standing
down there on that beach and the question is not whether or
not another wave is going to come and hit you. You know it
is. The question is how quick will
it be here and how powerful will it be. I've stood there and I've had
some that just kind of washed around my feet. I've had some that came up and
buffeted me hard. And I've had some that came and
absolutely knocked me down until it rubbed my face in the sand. He said, blessed are the waves. that washed the mariner upon
the rock of salvation. And I thought about it as I did
the Lord's people, all of those who believe God. Though they are absolutely, perfectly
safe in Christ, They are at the same time always having to be
saved, rescued, delivered. And they're like mariners. That's
what they are. They're like mariners. They're
like unto pilgrims and sojourners in this world. They're like a
people on a great sea. And when I thought about it,
this psalm came to my mind, Psalm 107. Because there is a verse in this
psalm where it speaks of the Lord's people and describes them
in this way, they that go down to the sea in ships, that do
business in great waters. We're like little ships. And our business in this life
and in this world is like a little ship in a vast ocean, a vast
expanse of sea, great waters. And what I remembered from this
psalm is that about four or five times in this psalm, he turns
in this description with the word, then. Then. Then. Look with me in Psalm I'm not going to do much more
than read this to you, but I want you to see it. And not only can we see it, I'm
sure, in our own experience, but when we look back at the
Lord's people, all the way back from Adam right down through
biblical history and that which we know of the Lord's saints
throughout the ages since then, right to this hour. This is their experience. He says, O give thanks unto the
Lord, for He is good. for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and
gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them then." This is us. Then. Not until then, but thank God,
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered
them out of their distresses." He goes on, "...and he led them
forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation,
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for
His wonderful works to the children of men. For He satisfieth the longing
soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness, such as sit
in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction
and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God and
contemned the counsel of the Most High? Therefore He brought
down their heart with labor, they fell down, and there was
none to help." Somebody said, they're lost people. I pray not. Do you ever rebel against the words
of God? Do you ever condemn, if not with
your lips, in your mind, the counsel and the wisdom and especially
the providence of God? God, why do you do that? God,
this doesn't seem fair. God, I wish this hadn't happened.
That's condemning the counsel of our God. Look at that thirteenth
verse. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. Only then. And he brought them
out of darkness and the shadow of death and break their bands
asunder." How quickly we get bound up, enslaved, in bondage
to about everything. Oh, that man would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works. to the children
of men. For he hath broken the gates
of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools, because
of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted." Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death." How many times in your life have
you thought you were laying at what we call death's door? Maybe
not because of a bodily sickness, but because of trouble of family
or trouble of One thing or whatever, you just feel like you're going
to die any minute. Listen to what he says. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble, and He saves them out of their distresses. come on them so hard and so fast,
the trial, the trouble, the affliction, whatever it is, but they always
wash them upon the rock of salvation. He sent His Word and heal them
and deliver them from their destructions. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices
of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing. They that
go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters. That's not really what we like,
is it? We like a smooth canoe ride in
this world. We like everything to go just
well. And the better that things go
for us, the more we forget God. That's just the way it is. But he said, they that go down
to the sea in ships and that do business in great waters,
and that's exactly where the Lord carries His people always. He says, these see the works
of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. In our experience as believers,
we can look back. What are those significant points
in our experience as the Lord's people? First of all, and greatest of
all, the fact that in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone, He
saved us and made us perfectly, permanently, and eternally safe. But how many times has he come? Like he came to those old apostles
in that ship in the storm, walking on the water, and rescued us. Rescued us, saved us, delivered
us. He says, For he commendeth and
raiseth the stormy wind which lifted up the waves. Who did that? Why did he do that? Because I'm afraid that's the
only time we call upon him. I'm just telling you the truth. That is the time that we get
serious. Listen, they mount up to the
heaven, they go down again to the depths, and their soul is
melted because of trouble. And here we are. They reel to
and fro. Have you ever tried to stand
on Stand on the deck of a boat in any kind of a storm. It's not easy. And so he describes
these in this experience in this way. He says, they reel to and
fro and they stagger like a drunken man. That pretty well described me
last night. staggering on the deck of a ship
tossed and turned and concerned about all kinds of things and are at their wits' end. I'm going to tell you something,
folks. The Lord is going to keep bringing
us to an end of ourselves. He is going to keep bringing
us and delivering us from leaning on the arm of the flesh. Do you remember old Elijah? He had a pretty good thing going. He went down to a little brook. The ravens would bread and flesh
in the morning and he drank of that brook. He went the next
day. Same thing. The Lord provided
for him. But you know what it says. It
says that one day the brook dried up. You know the Lord can make the
brook dry up. And when we go to that expected
place to receive of the Lord, though we may not even be acknowledging
and thanking Him for it, we go to that brook to drink of that
brook, and the brook's dried up. That doesn't mean that the Lord's
quit providing for us. But he may just shut that brook
up to remind us that he is the one providing for us. And he
may turn and use, as he did in that case, use the most unlikely
means. Sent Elijah to a widow's house
who has one son and they're on their last rations about to starve
to death. You know what? God blessed him
and fed him and provided for them too. I'll tell you when we call upon
the Lord, when the brook dries up, when we are come to our wits
end, when we are made to realize just how helpless and powerless
and weak we are. And I can tell you this, if you're
the Lord's child, He's going to bring you to that one way
or another. He's going to bring us to it.
Because it says in verse 28, "...then they cry unto the Lord in their
trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses." He
makes the storm of calm so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet, so He bringeth them unto their desired haven. But she's a rocky ride. He brings
them to their desired haven. that men would praise the Lord
for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. That's the experience of the
Lord of people. And then two thoughts came to
my mind this morning. What does that say about us? Oh, we are saved and safe and
secure. As a matter of fact, the Lord
Jesus Christ there in Hebrews 6 is described as our forerunner
who has already entered into the veil. I read one time that
that word forerunner was used to speak of a little
boat. And that little boat, this forerunner,
would go out of the mouth of the harbor at low tide when the
bigger vessel could not get into the harbor. That little forerunner
would run out there and take the anchor of the ship and bring
it back and drop it in the harbor where it'd be safe. That's what he says Christ is
to us. We have an anchor for our souls. He's already gone
into the harbor of God's presence. He's already entered within the
veil by His blood and dropped anchor. We're seated in Him in
the heavenly Somebody said if the head is
safe in heaven, the body is safe on earth. He is. But what does all this say about
us? If that's what our situation
is, that all these things have to be brought to us in our lives,
we have to be brought to these stormy seas and all these various
afflictions and trials and troubles, if they have to be sent to us
by a loving Father again and again, what does that say about
us? We're still weak. I tell you what, you can think
you're pretty strong, and the Lord can bring you to
your knees. You can think you're busy, you
don't need the worship of God, you don't need to really pray
so much. I mean, after all, you've got
this thing pretty well settled. You know the truth. You believe
the truth. Christ is your hope. You just
don't really need all the extra stuff. You know, you're busy
and all that. I'm telling you what, you'll find out how bad
you need Him. You're the Lord's child. He's going to bring you to an
end of yourself. This says that we are so weak,
that we are so frail, that we are so sinful, that we are so
full of our unbelief, that sin which does so easily beset us. And we are not making any progress. What did the Apostle say? Do
you know anything about that Roman 7 thing? Somebody said,
well, that was before Paul was converted. No, he's writing that
as a believer led by the Spirit of God. Oh, wretched man that
I am. You remember old John Newton
wrote that hymn we love, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that
saved a wretch like me. You know, he was a sea captain. And a wretch was supposedly that
skeleton of an old wooden ship that had run aground, and there
stands those ribs like a skeleton out of that water. They called
that a wretch. I'll tell you, he has to keep
saving wretches like us. I'm still a wretch. Saved by grace, safe in Christ,
redeemed by the blood. That's what he's talking about
here. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy. But I'm still a wretch in myself. Every way I turn, I run aground.
And I can get spiritually. I mean just like that. So cold. So hollow. So empty. I'm like that skeleton
standing out of the water. But in His amazing grace, He
keeps saving a wretch like me. What I want to do, I don't do. What I don't want to do, knowing
what it's done in the past, knowing what it is before God, I still
do. I still think. I still feel. Do you know anything about that? We have to be saved and rescued
and delivered and experienced His forgiveness again. I heard
some folks debating years ago about forgiveness, and they said, we don't have
to ask for forgiveness because we've already been forgiven. Well, there are two aspects of
forgiveness, and one is that forgiveness as it is before God,
and the other is that forgiveness as it is in our experience. I need to know again and again that the Lord has forgiven me,
because I keep sinning. I just keep sinning. And I need
to know and experience in my heart the forgiveness of God. He needs to draw me. I was telling
Brother Richard that hymn strikes me every time I hear it. Prone
to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave
the God I love. Lord, here's my heart. Take and
seal it to Thy courts above. We are such that God must send
us affliction and trials and troubles and persecutions over
and over again to drive us to Himself so that then we'll call
upon the name of the Lord. You let me get concerned about
my granddaughter, old apple of my aged eyes, my family, the church, my wife. Then I called upon Him in my trouble. But the second thing that came
to my mind was this. What does this say about our
God? You see, he opens this psalm
and he says, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. And what's that next line? For His mercy endures forever. You know, that ain't the only
place that's spoken in the Scriptures again and again. There's old
David. The Lord has saved him with a
covenant everlasting salvation. That's all his hope. He's pitiful. I think that's why we love the
song, because the Lord's people are giving their experience and
saying things that we know is true in ours and we feel, but
we're almost scared to admit it. And the only have I sinned and
done this evil in my sight. But His mercy endures forever. Why? Because His mercy is in
Christ. He's the Lord. Not only our righteousness,
but He's described as THE mercy. And He changes not. You talk
about a yo-yo. I'm like the carousel, what we
used to call when I was growing up, hobby horses. You know how
they are? Going round and round, up and
down. That's me. I reel to and fro,
and I stagger like a drunken man. I'm at my wits' end. But He doesn't change. He loved
me with everlasting love. Somebody said to me this week,
I can't understand why God would ever have been mindful of me
or love me or save me from all this great multitude of people. Because to save sinners like
us is to redound to the praise of the glory of his grace. He said, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob. Now, if there's one character
in this book that this old boy can identify, it's that man Jacob. Conniver, supplanter, wretch. And yet, you know, he calls himself
the God of Jacob. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consigned. You change it all the time. But he said, I don't. I've loved
you with an everlasting love. And He loved us with that love
that's in Christ, that love that is redeeming love. God commended
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. You think He's going to give
His Son for us and then let us self-destruct or Satan-destruct
or flesh-destruct? His is a covenant made dependent
only on Himself, sealed by His blood, and oh, how we ought to thank
Him and praise Him. He said, when they fall and when
they stumble, and they'll do it over and over and over again. Oh, he said, I'll visit them
with the rod of chastisement, but I'll never leave them or
forsake them. Never. No, never. No, never. And so we ought to enlighten
all these things even the more, to thank Him and to praise Him
and to give Him glory. Because in every place it says,
then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. Because he
said, well, I've had enough of you, old boy. You know, I'm through
messing with you. Sometimes I get the feeling that
God ought to say, I know He ought to say that to me. I'm just through
messing with you. I've helped you, and I've helped
you, and I've helped you, and I've done this for you, and that
for you, and everything like that. I'm just through. I'm going
to wash my hands of you. Oh, no. Instead of saying, I
ought to just wash my hands of you, he said no man will ever
pluck you out of my hand. Oh, no. Whatever it takes to
keep you. Even if it means killing you. Do you believe that? Rather than
lose one of his children, he'll take them from this world. He says many. Many are the afflictions
of the righteous. This isn't a matter of bad things
happening to good people. No, that's not what he's talking
about. These are the righteous who've been made the righteousness
of God in Christ. That's how they're righteous.
They're not righteous in themselves as they plainly demonstrate Day
by day. Many. That's kind of scary, isn't
it? Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. But the Lord delivers them out
of them all. You say, well, they just keep
coming with me. When He brings us, maybe in that
instrument of death, He will have finally delivered us out
of them all. Turn back to that hymn we sang.
I love this hymn that I think when we sung it this morning,
the Lord brought it back to my heart in kind of a special way. Hymn number 35. We sang that,
Praise my soul, the King of Heaven. That's what the psalmist is saying.
Oh, how we ought to give thanks to our God. But look at that second stanza. Father like, He tends and spares
us. That's what the Scripture says,
like a father pities his children, he remembers that we're just
dust. He's never going to be disappointed
in us because he already found his satisfaction in his son.
We're never going to surprise him. He's never going to feel let
down about me. No matter how I feel let down
about myself. For the light, He tends and spares
us. Well, our feeble frame, He knows. He knows it. In His hands, He
gently bears us. Rescues us from all our foes. That's the voyage of the Miramar.
Blessed are the waves that wash the mariners on the
rock of salvation. God bless you.