Alright, brethren. Let's turn
to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. We're just going to jump right
into our message this morning. My first statement is my first
point. First of all, God gives a command. He gives a command. Verse 6. God says, Seek ye the
Lord. He says, Call upon Him. Seek
ye the Lord, call upon Him. Do not seek His benefits. Seek
ye the Lord. Don't seek a sign. Seek ye the
Lord. Don't seek a church membership
or an office in the church. Seek ye the Lord. Have you sought
the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you sought the Lord Jesus
Christ? Now, there's no doubt that if any sinner seeks the
Lord, it's because the Lord sought the sinner. There is no doubt
about that. Scripture is clear on that. Abundantly
clear on that. In Romans 3.11, God, the Holy
Spirit, said, There is none that understandeth, there is none
that seeketh after God. Well, then how come God says,
Seek after God? If He said, None that seek after
God. Because the Psalmist said, When thou saidest, Seek ye my
face, And you said it affectionately in my heart. He said, My heart
said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. If you seek God,
it's going to be because God sought you first. There's no
doubt about that. The works of God's grace in Christ
are not in any way dependent upon, determined by, or accomplished
by the will, works, or worth of man. Nothing. Election is
not of man, it's of God's grace. Redemption is not of man, it's
of God's grace. Justification is not of man,
it's of God's grace. Regeneration is not of man, it's
of God's grace. Sanctification is not of man,
it's of God's grace. Preservation is not of man, it's
of God's grace. And glorification is not of man,
it's of God's grace. All salvation is of grace. All
is of the Lord and by the Lord. So if you seek the Lord, God
will receive all the glory and you won't get any. Nobody's going
to be patting you on the back for seeking the Lord. And if
you're seeking the Lord, you won't want them to. You just
won't want them to. Now, equally true, and be sure
you get this, I'm going to meet you right where you're sitting
today. Equally true, God commands you to seek the Lord and to call
upon Him. You seek Him. You call upon Him.
Every sinner has a responsibility to use even the natural faculties
that God has given you to seek Him. That's right. You have a responsibility to
use just those natural ears and those natural eyes and those
natural fingers and those natural hands to pick up this book and
open the pages of it and seek God. Open up your ear right now
and hear the messages being preached and look into this Word and see
if it's true. You have a responsibility to do that. Every one of you,
everybody sitting here has that responsibility. Listen to this
now in Mark 4 verse 23. The Lord Jesus Christ said this,
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Here's what He
said. He said unto them, Take heed
what you hear. Take heed what you hear. Now
listen. With what measure you meet, it
shall be measured to you. And unto you that hear shall
more be given. What's that mean? With what measure
you meet. Take heed to what you hear. Take
heed to what's being spoken. And with what measure you meet
it, God says, it will be measured to you. Ralph Barnard used to
say, if you walk in the light God's given you, God will give
you more light. And that's what that scripture
is saying. That's what Christ is saying there. In other words,
He's given a place here where the gospel is preached faithfully. Where the Word of God is preached
in truth, showing you line by line, this is what God says.
There's some light God's given. You have a responsibility to
come and hear this gospel. And with what measure you meet
it, with what measure you come and hear, God will measure it
to you. He's given you the Word of God. He's put you in a country where
you can pick up the Word of God and open the Bible and read the
Word of God and seek God's face in His Word. And God says, and
you have a responsibility to pick this book up and read it.
with what measure you diligently search, is with what measure
He's going to reveal Himself to you. He says that He's given
you access to His throne one way. Come bowing, come on bending
knee, with your face to the ground, contrite before God in Christ,
through faith in Christ, asking grace alone. Now, if you want
to seek Him, you've got to go to His throne of grace. You've
got to go to His throne of grace. This is light God has given you. This is light God has given you.
Have you walked in this light? Have you honestly sought God
diligently? Anybody here? Have you called
upon God diligently? Don't use God's sovereignty as
an excuse not to seek God. Don't sit back and say, well,
Christ said no sinner can seek Him unless the Father first draw
him, so I'm just going to sit back here. If I'm His elect child,
He'll draw me. And refuse to walk in the light
God's given you, refuse to seek the Lord, refuse to call upon
the Lord. Christ finished that statement
with this. He said, and he that hath not,
he that hath not meted this at all. He that hath not taken the
light I've given him and meted it with a measure himself, diligently
looked into the things I've showed him, diligently walked in the
light I've given him. He that hath not, He said, from
him shall be taken even that which he has. He says, if you
don't walk in the light I've given you, I'll take away that
light. I'll take away that light. This is one reason that God reveals
here in our text, there's an urgency to this thing of seeking
the Lord. He says, seek the Lord while
He may be found. He says, call upon Him while
He is near. Turn to Proverbs 1 just a minute.
This is what God said. To your left there from Isaiah,
just back, just back, I don't know, one book. Proverbs 1. God said, I love them that love
Me, and those that seek Me early shall find Me. That's God's Word.
Look here in Proverbs 1, verse 22. Proverbs 1, 22. How long,
you simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Who's this
simpleton and this scorner that's delighting in his scorning and
this fool who hates knowledge? It's the man who scorns God by
taking his Bible home and just throwing it on the shelf and
saying, I don't have time for that. I don't have time for that. God says, turn you at My reproof. Behold, I'll pour out My Spirit
upon you. I'll make you know My words unto
you. Did you hear how He started that?
He said, turn you at My reproof. I'll pour out my spirit upon
you. I'll make known my words unto you. Because I've called
and you refused, I've stretched out my hand and no man regarded,
but you've said it not all my counsel and would none of my
reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity. This is God speaking. I'll laugh at your calamity,
he said. I'll mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh
as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress
and anguish cometh upon you, then they shall call upon Me.
Boy, we get a little ill health and something goes wrong and
we start calling on the Lord then, don't we? Oh, we got time
for Him then when we need Him. Look here, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would none of
my counsel. They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be
filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall
be quiet from fear of evil. He said, you shall seek me and
find me when you shall search for me with all your heart. He
said, you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with
all your heart. You see, the controversy here
is not between me and you. It's not between you and the
preacher. It's between you and God. That's who the controversy
is. You and God, while you have a faithful ministry, while Christ
may be found, seek Christ now while He may be found. Call on
Him now while He's near. You're not doing God a favor.
God's giving you a privilege. He's giving you a privilege to
hear the Gospel. He's giving you a privilege to
be able to look into His Word. You're not doing God any favors.
If you were righteous, perfectly holy, what would you give God?
That's what the Scripture says. What would you give Him? He owns
everything and He's righteous and He's holy. A little peon
like me and you is not going to give God something. He's doing
you a favor. You're not doing Him a favor.
But if you won't seek Him while He's near, the time may come
when He will not allow you to hear anything. Listen to the
Scripture. 2 Thessalonians 2.10 says, Because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. For this cause God shall send
them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they
all might be damned who believe not the truth but have pleasure
in unrighteousness. That's the God we're talking
about here. He's not playing games. He's not trifling around.
Believer, this is for you and me as well. It's sure is. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We get all
these other things that we think is important. And I guarantee
you we go through a week and just have it full, day planner
so full you can't put another thing in it. And hadn't done
one thing profitable. Nothing that's worth even a penny. And yet we act like we couldn't
do without it. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Psalm 62 verse 8 says, Trust in Him at all times. You people
pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Peter
said, to whom coming? We're coming to Him all the time.
Now, well preacher, how do I seek the Lord then? The Lord teaches
us here. He doesn't just say, seek me.
He tells us how to seek Him. Here's the second thing God commands.
There's got to be something you forsake. You and me got to forsake
something. Here it is, verse 7. Let the
wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Now compare this with verse 8. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. What are all unregenerate men
told to forsake? What are all men told to forsake? God commands you to forsake your
way. What's your way? The course of
ungodliness and rebellion and sin. That's your way. But that's
not the worst of it. That's not the worst of it. The
course of self-righteous works pristine morality. That's your
way. That's your way. The wicked man
is the vile, profligate sinner. The unrighteous man is the whitewashed,
self-righteous moral man. God puts the sinner who's religious
trying to make himself righteous in the same boat with the common
whore. He puts them both in the same boat. How about that? He puts the moral man trying
to come to God by his morality in the same boat with the harlot.
In fact, Christ said it's harder for the self-righteous moralist
to let go of his self-righteous morality as it is for the immoral
man to let go of his open immorality. He said, Verily I say unto you,
speaking to self-righteous religious men. He said, Verily I say unto
you, the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before
you do. Jesus said, They that be whole
need not a physician. You ever been to the doctor?
Just up and went to the doctor, ran into the emergency room,
frantic, and called for a doctor when you were perfectly well? The whole don't need a physician.
You don't go to the doctor if you're whole. You don't go to
the doctor if you're well. The sick are the ones who need
a physician. When you were really, really, really sick. When you
were so sick that you just couldn't even feel like you could go to
the doctor. That's when you're really sick. When you don't even
feel like going to the doctor. And you just had to because you're
going to die. You can't make it if you don't
go see him. That's when you go to the doctor. Here's the meaning
of that. Christ gives the simple meaning
to that. He said, I did not come to call
the righteous to repentance. I came to call sinners to repentance.
You see, it's not my gospel you hate. It's not the doctrine of
election. It's not the doctrine of free
justification by Christ alone. It's not the doctrine of particular
redemption or any of these things. That's not what you hate. The
problem is, You have a heart that is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. Desperately means incurably wicked. Why is it so incurably wicked?
Why is it deceitful above all things? Because the deceit of
the natural heart is this. It makes you think you're righteous.
It makes you think you have no sin. And so you won't go to the
great physician. That's the problem. That's the
one problem. How am I going to find out I'm
sick? God's going to have to make you know you're sick. God's
going to have to come and make you know you're sick. That's
right. What's God's reason that you
must forsake your way and your thoughts? He says there, because
God's way is not your way and His thoughts are not your thoughts.
You can mark this down. Whatever way that you think seems
right to you about you and your sin, or you and your righteousness,
or you and God, or God and how He saves sinners, is wrong. That's what this Word is saying.
That's God's Word. And I bet you somebody in their
heart said, I don't believe that, because your thoughts are not
God's thoughts. That's God's Word. That's God's Word. Every carnal man's got some thought,
some way by which he thinks God will receive him into heaven.
Everybody does. The most vile person sitting
here today has got some vain thought in their imagination
of why and how they'll be received by God one day in the Day of
Judgment. The Scripture says there's a way which seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Every thought, every way of every
man summed up is this. Self. Sum it up. Just bring it right down to brass
tacks. Self. Who do you think you're hoping?
Myself. Here's why. Here you go. Here's
an example. A man said, Well, I think God
is merciful and God is love. And I don't think He'd throw
any of His people into hell. Well, that's your thought. But
it's wrong. It's wrong. I don't think hell
is a literal thing. I think it's figurative just
to scare us and get our attention. I don't think God's really going
to throw people into hell. That's a vain thought. God's
just. That's His first character. He's
holy. And you got to be holy to come into His presence. And
we're sinners. We can't bring a clean thing
out of an unclean thing. We can't change our skin and
take away our spots by something we do. Can't do it. Here you
go. Here's what a man will do. A
man will think, well, God's going to save me because I'm sincere.
You ask somebody, are you a sinner? Well, I'm a sinner, but I'm doing
the best I can. Well, the best you can do won't
get it. Best I can do won't get it. We won't receive some half-way,
half-done righteousness. God said, let the wicked forsake
his way and the unrighteous man his thought. The most common
is this. Here's the most common thing
of all. Well, at least I've got my faith. You're going to go
to hell with that faith. I promise you that. That faith
that's at work, that faith that's looking at its act of believing
and saying, by this act I've performed, I've been justified,
that's a boast. That's not faith. That's a man
saying, I've justified myself by this act of believing. Christ
justified His people. And God gives faith. God gives
a new heart. God gives faith. And when God
gives faith, He causes His people to be willing to receive Christ
who's already justified them over 2,000 years ago at Calvary. That's what true faith is. That
other faith never justified anybody. There are as many vain thoughts
and vain ways as there are vain sinners, but at the heart of
every one of them is this. Self. This is what I thought.
This is what I thought. This is what I did. This is what
I think. It don't matter a hill of beans
what you think. It does not matter. Self-salvation,
self-righteousness, self-sanctification will just land you in hell. God
commands you and me, forsake our thoughts and our ways. Whatever
the way the sinners thought of, God says forsake it. Forsake
it. Here's why. Verse 8. He says,
My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord God. I must show you God's ways. Turn
to Luke 10. I'm going to show you God's ways.
And let's see if your way, you just be honest, sitting right
where you're sitting. Tell me if your way is God's way. God's
way is to choose whom He will and pass by whom He will. That's
God's way. That's God's way. Choose whom
He will and pass by whom He will. To hide these things from the
wise and prudent and to reveal them unto babes. To hide these
things, to hide them from the arrogant, haughty, self-righteous,
wise and prudent man and to reveal them to nobody. That's God's
way. And I say, that ain't my way.
Well, here's God. Let's hear what God says. Luke
10, 21. In that hour, Jesus, who's God,
who is the Savior, who's the Lord. Jesus rejoiced in spirit. and said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. God's way
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten Son.
Look at John 10. John chapter 10. This is God's way. John 10 verse 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers. Look down at verse 7. Then said
Jesus unto them again. Oh, this is Jesus talking. This
is the Lord Jesus. This is God talking. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. I'm the
way, he said. I'm the way. All that ever came
before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
You know what he just said? He said, not one of my sheep
have ever perished in their sins. Not one of them. They've never
heard the stranger. Not a one of them. He said, I'm
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. And
look what he said here, verse 26. Some men fussing and fighting
and saying, you making us where we don't believe. We don't know
who you are. Tell us plainly. And he said in verse 26, you
believe not because you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. You believe not because you're
not my sheep. You see, Christ is the way. And Christ comes
and calls his sheep. And Christ saves his sheep. And
Christ redeems his sheep. And Christ brings his sheep home.
And not one of his sheep will ever be lost. A man can be sincere,
but he's sincerely wrong. Brother Eric read that scripture
in Romans 10. I bear them record. They have
a zeal of God, but it's not according to knowledge. Going about to
establish their own righteousness, but they have not submitted themselves
to God's righteousness, the righteousness of God. Christ Himself, Christ
God's Son is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. Oh, wouldn't it be something
if God just let you see you're going to die this afternoon?
Wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be wonderful? I bet
you everybody pay attention to what I'm saying right now. How
about it? I bet you'll be hanging on everywhere. Senator, is this your way? Is
this your way that he sent Christ and Christ is the righteousness
God demands? Christ is the righteousness that
fulfilled the whole law so that there's not one dot and not one
T to cross on the whole law of God. It's all accomplished and
it's all done. And Christ is the one who did
it. Christ is the one who'd be glorified for doing it. Christ
is the one and he fulfilled it for a particular people that
God gave him. He satisfied justice for them. He satisfied justice for them.
He purged our sin. He accomplished eternal redemption
for us, Scripture said. That's somebody. Isn't it somebody? He didn't just do this for everybody.
He did it for somebody. He did it for somebody. Is that
your way? That's what the Gospel says.
The book says, God says, if it's not your way, forsake your way.
Turn to Titus 3. I'll show you God's way. Here's
God's way, Titus 3. Right before the book of Hebrews, Titus
3. God's way of salvation is to then come to His child and
regenerate His child. You know what regenerate is?
That means to re-give life. That means to give life where
there is no life. to regenerate. You know what
a generator is, don't you? Electricity goes out, you pull
the cord and lights come on. God, the Holy Spirit, enters
in. He gives life. When He does, lights come on.
Regeneration. regenerate because we're dead
otherwise. This is God's way to do this
through the gospel by God the Holy Spirit, not by the sinner
giving himself life, not by the sinner doing it. If he did, the
sinner boasts he did it. Look here now, Titus 3, 3. We
ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving different lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. We hated God and we hated each
other. But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward
man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we've done,
but according to His mercy He saved us. Is that how you would
say? By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit of God came and
gave us life and made us new, which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior. That means Christ said, that's
one of mine. I redeemed him. I paid his sin
debt. I put away his sin. Holy Spirit,
go forth and give him life. He shed this on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ. And He said, that being justified
by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. that being justified by His grace,
because Christ had already justified us by His grace, already accomplished
it, that we should be made heirs, that we must be made heirs, that
the Spirit must come forth and give us life, that we may see
we've been made the sons of God by what He did. That's how we
were made to see Him and to rejoice in Him. This is God's way. Sinners, is this your way? Look
at Isaiah 57. Here's God's way. Is this your
way? Is this your thoughts about God and how He saves? God's way
is to teach His child in that new heart that He's given that
all we are is sin. You see your acts that you do,
your sinful acts? Yeah, that's sin. Your acts are
sin. But those acts are flowing from
a will. They're flowing from a desire.
They're flowing from an inward Affection. That's where they're
flowing from. And that's the fountain. And
that's your heart. That's your nature. The center
of your will and your affection. That's where they're flowing
from. And you can't stop that. Be honest. Can you stop sinning? Can you? Is there ever been a
moment in time when you could stop sinning? When you fall asleep
at night and your body is at rest, you're dreaming the most
vulgar dreams you can dream. And don't even want to. You just
do it. You sin in your sleep. Because you know why? Our very
being, the nature we got from Adam is sin. That's what it is,
sin. Sin. God makes you know that
in your heart so that you loathe yourself. You hate yourself.
You hate what you are in your flesh. You hate what you are.
But the world tells me to feel good about myself, because the
world wants you to go to hell with them, because Satan controls
the world. The prince of the power of the
air has the world. That's who's preaching on the
media, and in the fashion, and in the trends, and on the radio,
and in every capacity you can hear anywhere, anytime, all the
time. You think that's the norm? He makes you loathe yourself
so much that you want to depart from your sin. You want to be
with Him. You want to be like Him. You
don't want to be how you are in your flesh. And He teaches
you this in the heart of His child. Here is what He teaches
you. Isaiah 57 10. Thou art wearied in the greatness
of thy way. Look at this now. You are wearied
in the greatness of your way. Yet, Saidst thou not, you have
never said, there is no hope. Have you ever said, there is
no hope for me? And mean it. I have no hope before God. I
have no hope before God. Have you ever said that? And
mean it. Thou hast found the life of thine
hand. Therefore, thou wast not grieved.
That's why you didn't cry out and say, there is no hope. He
found the life of your hand. He says, And of whom hast thou
been afraid, or feared, that thou hast lied? And hast not
remembered Me, nor laid it to your heart? Who have you been
afraid of? Who have you been fearful of? Nobody. Nobody. You ever been afraid
that you've been lying to God have you if you ever if God convinces
you you're lying to God It will scare you to death. It'll scare
you to Christ. I guarantee you that Have you
been there? You've been there to where you
say I got no hope and God shows you you're a liar to God to his
face Look here. Have I not held my peace even
of old? And thou fearest me not. You
don't fear me, God said. Now look at verse 12. I will
declare your righteousness. Here's your righteousness. And
your works. They shall not profit thee. They shall not profit thee. Sinner,
is this your way? Chosen by God the Father, redeemed
by God the Son, regenerated by God the Holy Spirit, made to
know all you are is sin and all your righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. Is this your way? Have you been
made to confess that God's way is not your way? That's where
we got to be brought first. We got to be brought to see that
God's way is not my way. It's not the way I thought God...
That's not... Everything I ever thought about me and God has
been wrong. You've been brought there. That's when you confess
your sin. Not till then. That's what confessing
sin is. You've not been grieved. You've
not been brought to say there's no hope for me. I'm lost, I'm
undone, I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips. If not, you found the life of
your own hand. And God says your righteousness
and your works will not profit you. He says let you forsake
your wicked way and your wicked thoughts. Your unrighteous ways
and your unrighteous thoughts. Here's the third thing. There's
something else that doesn't end there. God commands there's one
we got to run to. Look here in verse 7. Isaiah 55, 7. And let him return
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God
for he will abundantly pardon. Now note that the Lord spoken
of here is the Lord Jesus Christ. The same one spoken of back up
in verse 4. He said, I gave him for a witness
to the people, a leader and a commander to the people. And then He turns
around and He calls him here, our God. That's who He is. This
is the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, the witness, the leader,
the commander. You see, it's not enough for
you to forsake your sins. It's not enough for you to forsake
your vain thoughts and your vain way. That's not enough. It's
not enough for you to just say, OK, I've sinned, I'm wrong. That's
not enough. Not enough. That's stopping short. True conversion. True repentance. True faith. It's not changing
doctrine. It's not changing opinions. It's
not changing your view. That's not true conversion. That's
not true repentance and faith. It's changing God's. That's true
repentance. It's changing God's. Changing
God's. There have been a lot of folks
who forsook themselves but never came to the Lord. A lot of folks
hate what they are. A lot of folks just have a bad
attitude. This is not just having a bad attitude. This is coming
to God. Coming to God. Forsaking your
former vain thoughts and your former way and returning to the
Lord. Look here, he says, and return unto the Lord. If you
go return unto the Lord, that means you've been there before.
That means you've been there before. What's that mean? You
can't return to somebody unless you were there previously. The gospel is called the ministry
of reconciliation. Reconciliation. That means to
be conciliated again. Reconciliated. Reconciliation. Why? When were we previously
with the Lord? Well, all those who by God's
effectual grace shall return unto the Lord, all those who
shall seek the Lord while He is near and shall call upon Him
while He may be found, They were all chosen of God and put in
Christ before the foundation of the world. Every one of them
were. Read Ephesians 1 beginning in verse 3 through verse 6. Every
one of them. Bless God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ who blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ according as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Have it predestinated us to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ Himself according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace. He has
made us accepted in the beloved. Before the world was made, God
already determined the end from the beginning. Already. And this
is so of everybody that will come to Him. So when they are
brought to come to Him, they are returning to Him. Well, how
do we get separated from Him? In the first man, in the garden,
Adam, sinned and we left God. We parted from God. but because
Christ the last Adam has come and put away the sin of His people
and regenerated us and brought this news and given us, redeemed
us and brought this news and regenerated us and now He's brought
us to willingly return to God. God will receive us better than
what we were in Adam. because Christ is God, eternal,
and He's accomplished eternal redemption. We can never be lost
again, brethren, never be lost again. Sinner, has God brought
you to admit that your very nature is sin, that your thoughts are
sin, and then flee to Christ? Somebody sitting here might,
because what I'm telling you now, this is not just preaching
the doctrine of depravity to you, I'm telling you about what
you are, about your depravity. This is what you are and this
is what I am. We've got to be saved from us, brethren. We're
less than a worm before God. A worm's got more credibility
with God than me and you do. We've got to be saved from ourselves. Do you know what grace is? Have
you ever said amazing grace? How sweet to sound? Do you know
what amazing grace is? Amazing grace is God giving you
what you don't deserve. That's what amazing grace is.
Mercy is God withholding from you what you do deserve. Well,
if you don't deserve it, there's nothing in you to merit it, then
God has got the right to do with you what He will. If He wants
to give you grace, He can give it to you. But if He don't, He
don't have to. You don't owe Him nothing. He
don't owe you nothing, I mean. So grace, grace, all of grace. Salvation is of grace. And if
it's of works, it's no more of grace. It can't be both. It can't
be partly by you and partly by God. When James said a man's
justified by works, he's not talking about legally before
God having his sin put away. He's talking about, you profess
to believe God? The only way you're going to
justify that profession is because God's people, God's true people,
they're going to do good works. They're born of the Spirit of
God. That's what James means. Paul said Abraham was justified
by faith, through faith. He believed on the Lord who justified
him. 430 years before the law was
given at Mount Sinai. That would mark off 99.9% of
modern religion today who try to come to God by their vain
thoughts and their vain way. He didn't have the law of Moses.
And God received him. That's being justified through
the faith of Christ, laid hold of by the gift of faith God gives.
But you say, I'm such a sinner, I can't come to Him, I'm such
a sinner, God won't receive me. You are such a sinner that God
doesn't have to receive you. But listen to this. Those are
your thoughts. Those are your ways. You know
why you're slow to believe God will forgive you of your sin?
Because by nature, you're slow to forgive others. You know why
we're slow to believe God will shed abundant mercy upon us and
abundantly pardon us? Because by nature, anybody that
transgresses against us, we won't do that to them. Have you discovered
what a short fuse everybody has now? If you just inch out in
front of somebody, there was a lady walking her Labrador Retriever
down my street the other day, and I went back out of my driveway
and just about backed over. I didn't see her. And I was back,
and my driveway's not that short. I mean, she saw me coming back,
and I almost backed over. And I thought she was going to
come in the car and give me a whipping. I'm sitting in my own driveway,
backing out. This is a big vehicle. I mean,
you know, have some common sense. I might not see you. But you
just do one little thing. You don't, you stay at a red
light two minutes longer when it turns green, or a second,
two seconds longer than when it turns green, and boy, they're
on the horn. And you get so mad when they
do it, and drive down the road a hundred yards, and you do the
same thing as somebody else. Isn't it true? God don't owe
us nothing. Nothing. See, our ways and our
thoughts are, if somebody crosses us, I'm not forgiving you. You
want mercy from me? You should have treated me better,
buster. But look, read this verse again. Verse 7. Return unto the
Lord, and he'll have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he'll
abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Neither your way is my way, saith the Lord." You
mean God will abundantly pardon a sinner that is so bad as what
you described, preacher? Yeah. That's what he said. Micah
7, 18 said, Who's a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity
and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
The remnant of his people. The remnant. the remnant among
all the people of the Lord, He passes by the remnant of His
inheritance, of His heritage. He retaineth not His anger forever,
because He delighteth in mercy. But now see, you need to understand
something. It's not that God's sitting here
wringing His hands going, oh please let me save you, please
let me save you. That's not it. He's saying, you
seek the Lord now. Right now, while he's passing
by, you call on him now while he's near. And see what he's
doing through this message is, while one man's sitting there
saying, I think that's the dumbest thing I ever heard. Tell a dead
man to seek God? Your gospel contradicts itself.
Another man's sitting over here and God's speaking that word
into his heart effectually. And he's seeking God. Right there
where he sits in his heart, he's seeking God. He's trying to come
to God in his heart right now. He's left all and coming to God
in his heart right now. Because that's how God saved.
He said, go tell these dry bones. Oh, here you dry bones. Live,
you dry bones. And pray to God that He'll give
the Spirit and make them live. That's right. If we confess our
sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. One last thing. Notice here in
verse 7. He says, The Lord will have mercy
for He will abundantly pardon. It means He'll multiply pardon.
One, He'll provide pardon upon pardon upon pardon. You know
we need continual pardon because we're continual criminals. We
need continual pardon. I can prove that. You know I
can prove that? Christ ever liveth to make intercession
for us. If we didn't need continual pardon,
He wouldn't be continually making intercession for us. But two,
it means this, He'll pardon the worst of the worst, the greatest
sinner, the chief of sinners. He'll pardon the worst of the
worst. Truth is, the greater the sinner, the sweeter the mercy.
The greater the sinner, the sweeter the mercy. And the greater the
pardon, the closer to the feet of Christ. I could show you a
bunch of examples. Let me show you one. Luke 7.
We'll end with this. Luke 7. There was a man who made
this supper. And the Lord went to his house
to eat. Luke 7. And while he was in this
house with this man named Simon, here comes this lady. Well, she
wasn't a lady. She was a harlot. And this woman
comes in and she breaks open an alabaster box of ointment. She stood behind the Lord at
His feet and she broke open this alabaster box of ointment. A
full year's wages she had to save up to buy this box of ointment.
And she broke the whole thing on Christ's feet. and began to
cry on his feet and wash his feet with her tears and wipe
them with the hair of her head. And this Pharisee, this self-thinking,
self-made, self-righteous man, he had his own thoughts and his
own way all figured out about God. And he looked at God and
looked at this harlot and said in his own heart, if this man
were a prophet, he'd know what kind of woman this is because
she's a sinner. What he was saying was, I wouldn't
let a heart like that anywhere near me. I'm so holy. That's what he was saying. In
Luke 7, verse 44, Christ said, Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered thine house, thou gavest
me no water for my feet, but she's washed my feet with tears
and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no
kiss, This woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to
kiss my feet. My head withal thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, many, are forgiven. For she loved much, she loved
much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. You see, He's not saying she's
forgiven because she loved me so much. That's not what He's
saying. He's saying, you see how much she loved me? You see
what love she's showing to me? The reason is because I've forgiven
her a whole lot of sins. I've forgiven her much. That's
why she's showing this kind of love to me. And He said, but
to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And He said
to her, thy sins are forgiven. They're forgiven. You see, the
greater sinner you are, the greater mercy will be, the sweeter mercy
will be to you. The lower at Christ's feet you'll
be, and the more you'll be thankful that God has forgiven you. But
if you're some perfect Pharisee, so self-righteous that you're
whole and you don't need God to save you, well then God won't
save you. He just won't. And one day you're
going to cry out for Him to save you. And He won't save you. You
don't want Him now? He said, I'm not going to let
you have me then. This is God. He's not a beggar. He's not this
little poor, beautiful Jesus, wanting you to pretty please
let Him save you. If He won't save you, He'll save
you. But He tells you, you've got a responsibility to seek
Him. He's going to have you ask Him. You're going to come bowing
down and asking Him. I guarantee you that. So here's
what I pray he'll give you grace to do. Seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near.
Number two, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man
his thought. You're the wicked, you're the
unrighteous, so am I. We've got to forsake our way
and our thought and let him return unto the Lord. Their only way
of salvation is Christ the Lord. And God says He'll have mercy
on him and to our God for He'll abundantly pardon him. Amen. Let's stand together, brethren. Father, we thank You for Your
Word. Lord, we hated this gospel. We
hated it. We hated you. We hated one another. We thought we were holy. We thought
we were righteous. We thought we knew who you were.
We thought we knew how you saved. And we was worshiping a God of
our imagination. And that God was us. Lord, thank
you for cutting down our idol. Thank You for making us see we're
just unrighteous and wicked. Thank You for making us have
a need. And thank You for showing us that You sent forth Your only
Son, who fulfilled that need perfectly, who provided Your
people a righteousness we could not provide ourselves. Thank
You, Lord, that You revealed this in our hearts. Thank You,
Lord, that You made us to see ourselves as wicked, as unrighteous,
and to see Christ as altogether the righteousness of God. Lord,
we pray You'll make one of Your lost sheep see it today. And
Lord, we know whether it's blessed to a savor of life unto life,
or whether it becomes a savor of death unto death, it'll still
be a savor of You in Christ. Oh, Lord, who's sufficient for
these things? We ask You to glorify Your holy
name, whether it be in mercy or justice, and do it for Christ's
sake and His honor, how we do thank You, Lord, for Your only
begotten Son. It's in His name we pray. Amen.