Trusting that the Lord will hear
our prayers, I'd ask your attention to Psalm 130, and I'll read verses
3 and 4. Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4. If
thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? but there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130 verses 3 and 4. It was especially verse 3 that
has been on my mind, but I cannot read verse 3 without verse 4. This is a wonderful expression
of the forgiveness that there is through the Lord Jesus and
I want to begin by speaking about that. But there is a particular,
there's another way perhaps in which this verse 3 may be read
that was the reason why I read that passage from John chapter
21 and I want to come on to that a bit later but I want to begin
really by looking at the the wonder of the mercy and forgiveness
that is spoken of in the whole of this psalm now this psalm
is one of the songs of degrees there are 14 I think of those
14 or 15. I understand that these particular
Psalms may be called this because as the Jews went up to Jerusalem
to keep the feasts that the Lord had laid upon them, as they went
to the temple they would have sung these on the way. As I understand
it, I understand as well that I think the number of these psalms
is the same as the number of steps that there were up to the
first court of the temple. That may or may not be true.
But there does seem to be a strong suggestion that these were psalms
that were to accompany a journey. I wanted to begin there really
with that thought. We still perhaps, not so much
now, but still we may find that songs or music may help us as
we go about our daily lives or daily tasks. I know that quite
a lot of the time we might have some music on while we're doing
something and that can help. But I'm thinking this especially
of a song. I think of the pilgrims as they
were walking perhaps towards the temple. And where you have
a song that you repeat, a song that you know well, it's almost
as it were something that... encourages, as it were, it stays
in the mind, it has an effect upon us. And this, especially
this psalm, is a wonderful psalm in that context. As we are on
our journey of life, as it were, to come back to a psalm like
this that speaks of forgiveness, that speaks of the place from
which we can cry unto the Lord and still expect forgiveness,
then it is a wonderful psalm to repeat and to repeat and to
repeat. And I love the way in this psalm
that we, if you look at where it begins, it begins in the depths. I can't help but think of John
Newton his autobiography in this, Out of the Depths, and truly he deeply felt how
the Lord had rescued him out of the depths. I'm sure you're
familiar with his account, but it starts there, in the depths,
but it ends with this simply but plainly spoken truth He shall
redeem Israel from all his iniquities. And although that he really relates
to the Lord that is being addressed in this Psalm, of course, it
looks forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is a statement
of fact. He shall. redeem Israel from
all his iniquities. And so may the Lord, as we consider
that this morning, may the Lord speak to us of this wonderful
forgiveness that there is with the Lord Jesus Christ. And especially
my thoughts really are if there are those who struggle with the thought that
can it be true that all of my iniquities are forgiven can it
be true that all of them perhaps there are those particular sins
that come back to us perhaps as we get older we remember the
sins of our youth perhaps ones that we haven't thought about
for many years and forgotten then they come back and we feel
the shame and the guilt of them perhaps it may be something like
that Or perhaps it may be a recent sin that is upon our mind. And perhaps there is that temptation,
can the Lord forgive all of my sins, even that particular one? Well, may the Lord give us that
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who is set forth in this psalm
as we see it. He shall redeem Israel from all
his iniquities. It's amazing, isn't it, really,
to look at this, and then we think of that, what is written
in that first epistle of John. The blood of Jesus Christ, his
son, cleanseth us from all iniquities. And it is there, there is John,
through the Holy Spirit, making the same statement that is in
this psalm, written how many, well, thousands of years, I think,
before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. he shall redeem
Israel from all his iniquities. I remember somebody once saying
to me how they had felt that the Lord had forgiven them for
some of their sins, but they weren't sure that all of their
sins were forgiven. And immediately those words from
John dropped in, cleanseth us from all our sins. Well, may
the Lord, we can speak about this and we can read it in the
Bible, we can believe it in our heads, but I may the Lord through
his grace apply it to us to give us the faith to believe it because
it isn't, it's not so much that we can believe that Jesus does
do this for his people, but it's can he forgive all of my sins,
all of my sins? This is a personal thing, isn't
it? Can he forgive? Has he forgiven all of my sins? Now, just to speak a little bit
about this psalm, really as a little bit more really about this introduction
we have, as I said, it starts with the depths through faith,
which I want to speak about a little bit more. It ends on this note
of certainty. He shall redeem Israel from all
his iniquities. But we see that, first of all,
in these first two verses, we have this description of the
situation of the psalmist. And this is clearly a personal
psalm. This is not somebody, as it were,
writing about something that they don't know. Clearly the
psalmist has been in, or is in this situation, in the depths.
And I love that, because he isn't starting from a position of height,
if you like, or elevation. He's not saying, as it were,
well, I have already, I've done this, as it were, I have some
good things in my life, I have some righteousness, and therefore
I think the Lord will hear me. But he starts right from the
depths. And it is speaking to those really who, as we have
been singing of, those who are indeed poor in spirit, poor in
the sense that they have been brought to see that they own
nothing of righteousness, that they have nothing. I wish really that I could preach
this more clearly. I wish that I could see it more
clearly. But I was thinking recently about
that centurion and I think sometimes I've read that account of the
centurion in, I think it's Luke's gospel, the one who said to the
Lord Jesus through the friends that he sent, I am not worthy
that thou shouldest come into my house, neither am I worthy
to come to thee. And if you think of that, the
whole point of that in one sense, his faith was that I'm a sinner,
I have nothing, I have no reason for the Lord to help me at all.
There's absolutely no reason for the Lord to help me. Now
that is the depth. But his faith that the Lord commended,
I have not seen such faith, no, not in Israel, was that he still
believed that Jesus would help him. And that was his faith.
And it's only recently that I've seen that clearly, really. That's
why I said I wish I could see this more clearly. And these
are the depths I believe are spoken of in this psalm. This
is a psalm for those who have a conviction, a conviction which
has grown upon them, that they have nothing to bring to the
Lord. They have no reason for the Lord
to help them. And I'll say again, is that then
a reason for despairing? Is that then a reason for thinking,
so the Lord won't help me? I look at others and I see that
they've got something, But I have not got that. I have got nothing.
I am nothing but a sinner. Other people have said that after
a while, perhaps their heart was affected by the Lord working. I've turned my back on the Lord
again and again and again. Perhaps it might be like that.
Perhaps that might be the depths. John Newton, again going back
to him, he was brought up, wasn't he, under a, as I remember rightly,
under a godly mother who prayed for him, but he turned his back
on that. And he turned his back. I believe the girl that he loved
was also a Christian, if I remember rightly. But he turned his back
on that. He turned his back on the Lord.
He turned his back on all these things. He deliberately chose
to go away from the Lord. That was the depths that he was
in. And I think that's what he is speaking of. He had no claim
at all, and none of us do, upon the Lord Jesus. But he was brought
to see it. And these two verses are, that's what they're speaking
of. Those are the depths. But you
see, this armist has that same faith as the centurion. He is
not saying, as it were, because I am a sinner, there is no hope
for me. He is saying that because I am, or that even though I am
a sinner, despite my sins, knowing that I have no reason for the
Lord to hear my prayers, he is still saying, Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If we are here this morning and
if we are thinking the Lord will not deal with me because of my
sins, because of what I am like, then we do not yet have the faith
that we need. Faith is to know that, that I
am a sinner and there is no reason why the Lord should help me.
But nonetheless, It is still to pray, and it is still to plead,
and it is still to expect the Lord to hear our prayers, just
like the centurion. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy
to come to you. I'm not worthy that thou shouldest
come to me even, but I still expect thee to help me. That
was his faith, and that was the faith that the Lord Jesus prayed. And then we come on to these
two verses, and I obviously want to come back to those. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But
there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. I'll
come back to those in a minute, but then we have that this verses
five and six, it speaks of the psalmist waiting. Now, I don't
know exactly what the psalmist is waiting for but it does to
me it seems that the psalmist is waiting for the lord to give
him that forgiveness he's waiting for the lord to speak to him
i think that was in our the hymn that we sang as well wasn't it
that jesus to thee i breathe my prayer reveal confirm my interest
there what am I humble lot below this this my soul desires to
know that to me is what the psalmist is waiting for in this may be
wrong but i wait for the lord my soul doth wait and in his
word do i hope now i just wanted to draw your attention to that
in his word as we the word speaks of the whole of the bible i know
that there are The Lord, in his dealings with us, he does, as
it were, draw our souls to particular texts, to particular parts of
the Bible that we can say have been blessed to us. But may we
never forget that all of the Bible is true. No one has ever
used the excuse, as it were, well, I felt I was able to commit
murder because the Lord had never specifically said to me and confirmed
it to me that I should not kill. We know that it applies to us,
the Ten Commandments, we do not need the Lord to give us a special
word for that. And as we read about the Lord Jesus Christ,
everything that the Bible tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ
in the New Testament, as well as in the Old, as we have here,
he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. It is true. It
is true. And faith is believing the word
of God. It is believing in his word,
do I hope. And just for a moment think of
the psalmist, whoever the psalmist was of this. No New Testament
to look back to. No New Testament describing the
life of the Lord Jesus Christ, describing the fulfillment of
the prophecies. I don't know how many of the prophecies that
we have in the Old Testament this psalmist would have known
about. Not all of them would have been written at this time.
No description of the Lord Jesus Christ coming to the earth, giving
his life upon the cross. No description of the resurrection.
None of the letters written by Paul and Peter and James and
John, none of those letters expounding that to us. None of those. And yet look at the faith that
this psalmist had. I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Something again that
has struck me recently is Isaiah 53. We know that passage so well,
don't we? But in that lovely, beautiful passage, a very sacred
and blessed part of scripture. But one of the things that struck
me only recently was just the prepositions, I think that's
the pronouns in there. Surely he hath borne our griefs. Isaiah never wrote, surely he
hath borne your griefs, and carried your sorrows. Yet you did esteem
him stricken, smitten with God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for your transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities.
The chastisement of your peace was upon him, and with his stripes
you are healed. It was we and our. Isaiah was
part of that. As Isaiah was moved by the Spirit
to write this with such a clear view of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Isaiah's faith shines through, doesn't it? He changed that to
our. He was part of that. He believed
that through the bruises and the broken body of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his iniquities would be forgiven, would be healed.
And again, 750 years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this psalmist here, Now we have so much more, don't we?
May the Lord help us to believe in that word, to hope on that
word as the psalmist does. If there are those that are waiting
here this morning like that for that forgiveness, may the Lord
give you faith and hope. In his word, I wait for the Lord,
my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waited
for the Lord more than they that watch from the morning. I say
more than they that watch from the morning. In those two verses,
80% of it is about waiting, isn't it? But there is that hope there.
Now that time of waiting, it may seem dark, it may seem unbearable. I think of, again, my mind goes
back to the testimony of one who awake all night because she
could not sleep until the Lord had spoken to her. And that was the culmination,
if you like, the crescendo of how the Lord had been working.
She needed that forgiveness. If there are those that are,
as it were, watching for the Lord more than they that watch
from the morning, well, may the Lord help you in waiting. May
the Lord give you that faith. In his word do I hope. To us
it sometimes may feel uncertain, but it isn't uncertain because
the Lord has spoken him. All those that call upon his
name All those that he has brought to call upon his name will receive
that forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
will reveal himself to them. Again, we think of, my mind goes
to Zachariah, that work there of the Lord upon his people,
starting with pouring out upon them that spirit of grace and
of supplication. But he also says that he will bring them,
they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And it is
the Lord that gives us that revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
isn't something that we can do ourselves. It isn't like you
might do A-level history or something like that, that you study and
you increase your knowledge. We can't give ourselves that
right view of the Lord Jesus Christ suffering on the cross.
But the Lord has promised that he will. And if there are those
who are desiring that, that he has brought and given that desire
to, he will bring you to see him, and he will bring you to
that morning. He brings each of you, as one
mourns their only begotten son. And then, verse seven and eight,
there are these, again, this beautiful expression, of hope
and trust in that complete forgiveness of God. And again, what a contrast
there is. It is, as it were, one starting
almost as it were in the bottom of the sea, but coming out onto
the highest mountain with the sun shining, glittering on the
snow as it were. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
again that plenteous that fits so beautifully doesn't it from
all his iniquities plenteous redemption now i want to come
back then to these verses three and four If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Well, this word
mark here is actually the same word in the Hebrew as I understand
it, as in verse six. My soul waited for the Lord more
than they that watch for the morning. I say more than they
that watch for the morning. That word watch is the same word
as mark, iniquities. And I was thinking about that,
if we go to that thought as it were, a night watchman, one who's
got to stay awake all night. or perhaps there have been those
times when you've been awake all night through illness or through
anxiety, through some great terrible circumstance perhaps in your
lives you know how it is, there's such a sense of relief isn't
there when you begin to see the light through the curtains and
somehow even though nothing's changed I don't know about you
but when I've been in those situations everything's a little bit better
in the daylight and you think of how that is when it's dark
there are no electric lights in these days of course that
we have it's dark and especially if you know that when the day
comes that will be the end of your shift as it were, the end
of your responsibility perhaps if you're a night watchman it's
a time of fear what thieves are going to come against me in the
night that I can't see because it's dark and then when the light
comes you can see again and think of how one would be watching
for the morning, waiting for the morning watching as it were
I'm mixing analogies slightly, but watching the, as it were,
to see, can you see that crack in the curtains beginning to
get light, the first sign of daylight? And think how you would
watch that, how carefully you would take note of it. Then go
back to verse three, and this is what is being spoken of here.
What if the Lord were to be so mindful, as it were, of our iniquities
like that, as it were, to make a note of them, to make a note
of every detail? and to keep them. Now, I know
that the Lord does see every detail of our sins and our iniquities,
and I'm not for a moment saying he doesn't, but this is about,
as it were, keeping them. Because that word, it also means,
again as I understand it, to guard, to preserve. And what
the psalmist is saying here is, if the Lord were to, as it were,
keep the record of my iniquities, every detail of them, how can
I stand before him? How could I be there, as it were,
knowing, how can I come before the Lord, knowing that what there
is with the Lord is that perfect record of all my iniquities and
nothing else? If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? That is why I could not speak
about this verse without the next one. Because the psalmist
is saying, the Lord, in one sense, he does, he knows all of our
sins. There's no sin that escapes his
knowledge, no sin that he does not know about, and he knows
every detail of it. Even the sins that we might think, well,
never actually came to pass. They were just a temptation,
a thought that went too far up here. Perhaps we don't take much
notice of those, but the Lord does. The Lord knows. Think of
what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount about those who
look after a woman to lust after her, those who hate their brother
in their hearts. But verse four says, but there
is forgiveness with thee. And this is what the psalmist
is saying, that the Lord doesn't only keep a record a precise
record and preserve that record of our iniquities. That is not
the end of the story. The Lord has, in his mercy and
through the grace and the wonder of the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ, has given forgiveness. But there is forgiveness with
thee. And then I want to just say about this, thou mayest be
feared. in some ways that brought me up a bit as I was thinking
about this because we all expected to say that thou mayest not be
feared there is forgiveness with thee so therefore we do not need
to fear the Lord but I think what this really tells us about
is what this word fear means you know it says doesn't it about
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and it speaks in many
places about the fear of the Lord and it isn't just a terror
of the Lord It really speaks of a deep reverence, love and
respect. They are really what makes up
this, the biblical use of the fear of the Lord. And then if
you go back to this verse, this forgiveness, because there is
mercy with the Lord, that is what gives us, as it were, not
only the terror was there already, but added the terror changes.
It's still there, that respect, as it were, and it's deeper than
respect. Respect isn't a strong enough word, but now it is mixed
with love and gratitude and wonder that thou mayest be feared. Think
what it would be if it wasn't like that. If we were just to
say, as it were, well, the Lord forgives my sins, so I can carry
on in them. That is what it would be if the
Lord wasn't feared. How solemn a place it is to be
if we live our lives not fearing not being afraid of the Lord
and His judgment. How solemn that would be. But
this is what this psalmist is making clear. This, because there
is forgiveness, because there is that understanding that the
Lord is a great and terrible judge, because there is that
understanding, then there is that right fear of the Lord,
that respect, that love, that gratitude, that desire to keep
His commandments. There is forgiveness with thee.
There isn't time to speak about that much, but I'll just draw
your attention to that. There is forgiveness with thee.
That's a lovely word, with, because it speaks about coming into that
personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and knowing
him. And the love, as we see that the Lord loves us, the love
then that is in our heart that flows towards him. We love him
because he first loved us. brings us that desire to be with
the lord jesus and that is what this speaks of it's not just
it could say there's forgiveness from thee as if the lord would
just give out forgiveness but there's forgiveness with thee
it speaks of being close to him i have to leave it because there's
not time to go into that but there's a lot in that little
word isn't there there's forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared Now, I want to come on to that passage that we read
in John, and then on to really the meaning of this verse three
that really I think first struck me, that I felt that I had to
come here with the message, if you like, of this. But just before
we do, this psalm, I read someone who wrote that, I can't remember
who it was now, that this psalm combined two things. It combines
conviction of sin, that knowledge not only that we are sinners
but also that awareness of the solemnity and seriousness of
our sins. It combines that with confidence
that the Lord will forgive. And again that was something
that I believe is something that The Lord's people may find to
be a struggle through their lives. There is sometimes that conviction
of sin is uppermost, but really the right balance, if you like,
is like that centurion. I am a sinner and there is no
hope for me, there's no excuse, there's nothing that I can plead
in mitigation of my sins. But because the Lord Jesus Christ
is who he is, And because of how the Lord Jesus Christ is,
because of his person, I have that confidence that he will
forgive me. Now, the meaning that really
stood out to me in this verse three is slightly different from
how we've been speaking so far. This word stand, I've been thinking
of it really as one who would stand, as we all must before
the Lord, stand before him as our judge. I also want to just
speak briefly of it in this way that stand I believe can also
mean it can also speak about those who are called to the Lord's
service and especially if there are those I have no idea if there
are I have no idea who you may be if there are those who are
to whom the Lord has been speaking perhaps calling to a particular
purpose and the Point of difficulty within you is your sins, that
you are a sinner, perhaps of what your life may have been,
whatever it might be. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who should serve thee? Who can serve thee?
Can sinners serve the Lord? That is really what it brought
to my mind. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Now that was what really
made me think of Peter. Because in this, there's a lot
in this chapter, and again, not much time to speak about it really,
but in this chapter, Simon Peter was called to serve the Lord,
and it's very simple. The Lord said to him, feed my
lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. That was the service that
Peter was called to. And in that it was speaking about
Peter's ministry to the Lord's people. And it was the Lord speaking
very simply, they need to be fed. Why was it that Peter was
specifically in this chapter singled out, why was the Lord
speaking to him? And it's the opposite of what I'm about to
say. Was it because Peter was particularly knowledgeable about
the Lord Jesus Christ? Was it because Peter was particularly
holy? Because he had led a particularly
good life? Because he had kept himself from sin? Because he
had a sound theological grasp of the doctrines of the salvation
that came through the Lord Jesus Christ? No. The reason I believe
that Peter was told to serve the Lord in this chapter, because
I'm not saying that the others weren't, but the attention on
Peter was because Peter had sinned and Peter had tasted forgiveness.
Peter personally had tasted the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He denied the Lord three times.
Jesus asked him three times, lovest thou me? And I believe
it was Peter, his first-hand experience, as it were, of himself
as a sinner. He could not keep himself. He
started off with the right intentions. He believed that he loved the
Lord so much that he would be willing to go to death and to
prison for the Lord Jesus. And we can be the same, can't
we? Perhaps you might read the account of someone's biography,
of someone who's been served, and think, I feel inspired, I
could do that. But Peter, his faith in himself
was taken away. And through that though, Peter
was brought to see that there was, with the Lord Jesus, even
for those who denied him, there was no change in the Lord's love.
There was no change in the Lord's forgiveness. And that was, I
think especially, if you like, in this chapter is brought to
our attention, that that is why Peter was told specifically to
feed my lambs. So what would he feed the Lord's
people on? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one that
forgives sins. Jesus Christ is the one. I'm
a sinner. I denied my Lord. But Jesus Christ, he still loved
me. He still loved me. He still forgave me. It's his
love to me didn't change. That is what he is feeding the
people on. Feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Not instructions as
to how to live our life. I know we need that. But it's
most important, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall stand? If thou shouldst mark iniquities,
who shall stand? And that was the sense in which
it came to me. Simon Peter, the Lord didn't
say to him, you can no longer be an apostle. You no longer
are authorized to deliver the message of salvation because
you have sinned. Just going to another person,
Jonah. Think of Jonah. The Lord said, go and preach
to Nineveh. And he didn't, it wasn't just that he didn't go,
he went the other way. He said, I'm going to do my best
to get away from God. And the Lord delivered him. He
was vomited up. And then the word of the Lord
came to him a second time. That's a very precious part of the gospel
really. Although it's in the Old Testament.
The Lord didn't write Jonah off. He didn't say, I see what you're
like now. I see that you can't preach for
me. The word of the Lord came to him a second time. Jonah the
sinner. Jonah the disobedient one. Jonah, the one who has been
brought though to see that salvation is to the Lord, you go and preach
repentance to Nineveh. Now Jonah wasn't perfect, wasn't
he, in the way he did that, but then neither are we. But the
point is this, the Lord uses sinners. And as I said, I did
feel that that had been particularly laid on my mind. If thou shouldest
mark iniquity, who shall stand? If there are those to whom the
Lord is calling to his service and the difficulty, the impossibility
is, but I'm a sinner. This is what I've done. I cannot
do it. Look at Simon Peter, look at
James, but most of all, look at Jesus. Jesus saying to Peter,
feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Now one thing that especially
comes out of that verse, also I believe goes back to Psalm
130 as well, is Peter's love for the Lord Jesus Christ. So
that's in the Psalm 130 as well. Because that verses five and
six, that waiting, it isn't just, it doesn't say, I waited for
my salvation. I waited for my forgiveness.
I waited for my pardon. I waited for that, to know that
my sins would not be held against me. I wait for the Lord. There's that longing for the
Lord. There's that love for the Lord. And I believe in all of
the Lord's people, we don't just love him because he saves us.
I believe the Lord in his mercy gives us that deeper love, so
that we love him as a person, but just the glimpses that we
have, and there is that longing to be with the Lord. Now, that's
one of the things I love about this John chapter 21, that we
see that in Peter. John, the disciple who nearly
always calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, says to Peter,
it is the Lord. And I love reading that, When
Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat
unto him, and he cast himself into the sea. He couldn't wait
to be with Jesus. Even though he knew he was a
sinner, such was his love to the Lord. I know we speak of
faith and love and things, but it's really a mixture of these
things. But his trust that the Lord had forgiven him, the love
that overwhelmed him because the Lord had forgiven him for
his sins, that was what made, he didn't have another thought.
He threw himself into the sea so he could be with Jesus even
quicker, as quickly as he could. We say that Peter was impetuous,
and sometimes perhaps we say that a bit disparagingly, but
here, Peter's impetuosity, it comes from his love of the Lord,
doesn't it? It comes from burning in his heart, he wanted to be
with the Lord. Think of Mary, when she was standing
at the tomb, and then she thought the tomb was empty, they'd moved
the body of Jesus, she thought it was the gardener that was
talking behind her, and then he said, Mary, and she turned
herself, and her love of Christ then, she'd had the sin of unbelief,
she'd been found out in the sin of unbelief really, why was she
at the empty tomb? Like the angels said to her,
and what Jesus said, why weepest thou? You've been told that Jesus
was going to die. You've been told that Jesus would
rise again. Here's the empty tomb. Why weepest thou? Unbelief
is the simple answer. But when Mary turned round, it
was her love of the Lord Jesus Christ that made her clasp his
feet. And he said, don't hold me. I
must go to others as well. Her love of him. And so Jesus
saying here, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed
my sheep. It was Peter. said to Peter because
he had known iniquity he had been brought home to that conviction
of sins but through his own personal experience he could witness that
the Lord Jesus Christ had forgiven him and that the Lord Jesus Christ
loved him and in his heart burned that love of the Lord Jesus Christ
he wasn't as we would say without sin even in this he then said
well what's John going to do And Jesus reproved him for that. He wasn't without sin. But that,
I believe, is why Jesus said to Peter especially, is because,
Peter, you know that you're a sinner. You felt the shame and the guilt.
You've wept bitterly because of your sins. But also, Peter,
you've seen that my love for you didn't change. You have known
that you have been forgiven. Well, may the Lord bless these
things to us. And may there be that encouragement.
Firstly, if there are those who are looking and longing for that
forgiveness for all their iniquities, for that complete forgiveness
of all their sins, may there be that encouragement to continue
in prayer, to wait and to watch, but to watch with hope. But secondly,
if there are those who, to whom the Lord is calling to his service,
may there be that looking away from our unworthiness, from our
sins, from our inabilities, I could go on with the list, looking
away from ourselves, but looking instead to the Lord Jesus. And
may the Lord help us to set that forth. If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Amen.