as we was reading this song here,
this third verse, rung in my heart. Pass me not,
oh mighty spirit, thou canst make the blind to see. Witnesser of Jesus' merit, speak
the word of power to me. Have you ever thought that you
were such a terrible, terrible sinner that there was no hope
for you? I have. And many of you this
morning have. Have you ever feared that you
have committed an unpardonable sin? I have. And many of you here
this morning have. Have you ever thought that if
it were not for that one particular sin that you had committed, Now,
your life has been full of sin, and you are sin, and you know
that. But there was that one particular
sin that gnawed at your heart, and you think, my soul, there's
no hope for me. I have. It was a willful sin. It was
a sin against known light. but I did it anyway. And if it
wasn't for that one sin, then maybe there would still be hope
for me. Have you ever feared that you
might be like Esau, who have found no repentance, though he
sought it carefully with tears? You yourself have cried tears. and you yourself have searched
for peace and hope, but you could not find it. I have, and many
of you this morning have. It has been said, gospel preaching
is just one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.
I want to tell you this morning that I have found bread. And
I want to tell you this morning where I found that bread and
who that bread is. It has also been said that you
cannot tell what you do not know any more than you can come back
where you haven't been. You have to think about that
a minute. But you can't tell what you don't
know. I spent 25 years in despair. I have spent 25 years looking
for hope and I found it. How does a man get from despair
to hope? How does a man get from utter
despair where he does not think there's any hope for him to hope. How can a man find a saving interest
in the Lord Jesus Christ? How can a man go from despair
to hope? And the question is, is there
any hope for me? my library downstairs in my house. I've got a little study. And
in that study, I've got a bookshelf. And on my bookshelf is a witness
to what I'm telling you to be true. And what do you mean? Is it the contents that's in
the books? No, it's the titles of the books. Let me share with you, for just
a moment, some of the books that I bought years ago looking for
peace and hope. A Prop Against All Despair, and
I love the introduction to this book. It's what drawed me. It was intended for the consolation
of self-condemned sinners, but more especially for those perishing
souls who feared that they had sinned beyond the possibility
of pardon. That's why I bought the book.
Because I was certain that I had sinned beyond the possibility
of pardon. And then at times I simply feared
that I had sinned beyond the possibility of pardon. So I looked for help. Another book in my library is
The Forgiveness of Sin. And it was an exposition of Psalm
130. And let me read that opening
of that psalm to you this morning. See if we can identify with this
verse. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication. I was looking for the forgiveness
of sin. Another book that's on my shelf
is entitled this, A Treatise on Comforting Afflicted Consciences. You see, I had an afflicted conscience,
and I was looking for a balm to cover that sore of my soul. Another book I had was Sin and
Grace. And when I bought that book,
my question was, was my sin so great that it was greater than
his grace? Here are a couple books that
really showed my confusion. Faith and its Evidences. Had
a work of grace begun in my heart? You see, we had had our religious
experiences. We had accepted, I had accepted
Jesus as my personal savior at nine years old. It was a dramatic
experience. I had invited Jesus into my heart. And I had done it numerous times. And some of you here have too. I had raised my hand, I had raised
my hand, and I had raised my hand, and I had walked an aisle,
and I had walked an aisle, and I had walked an aisle, and I
had even testified, and I had been baptized. I had been to
the physicians who had no value. I would go looking for faith
and evidences, and I would go to the preachers of our day,
and you know what they would say? You're all right. You know what they would say?
It's the devil. Your conscience is just the devil.
You accepted Jesus, didn't you? You believe on Jesus, don't you? Faith and its evidences, where
was it at in my life? and where was it at in my heart? If you will, turn over to the
book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter three. Not only did I buy books and
search the words of preachers, but I also searched the scriptures. And many times I would read passages
of scripture that I'd never heard preached on. And I would see
a mourning, and I'd see a grieving of a sinner, that I had never
heard preached about. And I could open my Bible and
there's numerous places, Psalm 22, there's so many that I would
go to and I would read and I would look and say, is that me? That's how I feel. That's who
I am. And one of those places is right
here in Lamentations. Lamentations chapter three, and
lamentation is the book written by Jeremiah, the crying prophet. A lamentation means a passionate
expression of sorrow or grief. It is a formal expression of
sorrow and mourning, especially in song. Now let us read the
experience of a sinner. Let us begin in verse one. I am the man that has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness, but not light. Surely against me he is turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath builded against me and
compassed me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places
as though that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about that
I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, he
shutteth out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with
hewn stone, and he hath made my paths crooked. He was unto
me as a bear lying in wait and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways
and hath pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He
hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of
his quiver to enter into my reins. I was a derision to all my people
and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones, and he hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from poverty. I forget
prosperity. Now read carefully, verse 18
is the summary of what we have read. And I said, my strength
and my hope is perished from the Lord. Have you ever felt
that? That your strength and your hope
is perished from the Lord. You mean that I have no hope? That's what I read as I read
verses one through 17 and 18. Is this me? How terrible and
how desolate this situation is. But I'm so glad that this lamentation
does not end here. And this is why I kept returning
and kept reading this lamentation. Look with me at verse 21. This I recall, therefore have
I hope. Does this mean that there might
be hope for me? Look at verse 22. It is of the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions
fail not. Could there be mercy yet for
me? Depths of mercy, can there be? Mercy still reserved for me. Can my God his wrath forbear
the chief of sinners spare? Depths of mercy, can there be? Look at verse 23. His compassions
and his mercy, they are new every morning. For those who find mercy,
God is not angry with them this morning. For those who find mercy,
their salvation is glorious. And every morning when they get
up, the Lord's mercy is just as if they had never sinned at
all. His mercy is new every morning. How I wanted this to be my hope. And not only that, verse 24,
the Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope
in him. Can my soul say I will hope in
him? No, not for 25 years, and neither
could some of you. Why do we not have peace? Why could we not find peace? We see ourselves in this lamentation
and many of the other lamentations in the scriptures. We see the
hope that's in this lamentation, but why do we not find any peace? I'll show you why. Turn to Isaiah
chapter 40. Let's begin reading in verse
one, and please read carefully with me. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare will be accomplished, that her
iniquity will be pardoned, for she will receive of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. Is that what it says? Is that not though what you have
been told? That if you were to take the
first step in salvation, that God would take the second step
And if you would do something for God first, then God would
do something for you. No wonder we find no hope. I am here this morning to declare
an altogether different gospel. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, and that her iniquity is pardoned,
and she hath received of the Lord double for all her sins. That's our message. Your warfare
is accomplished. Your iniquity is pardoned. And you have received already
of the Lord's hand double for all your sins. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. There's no comforting in doing.
So then how can we find comfort in our lamentation? Turn with
me. Isaiah chapter 53. And this is the passage that
Luke read this morning. Now we're going to look at four
verses. We're going to look at four verses
of scripture in Isaiah 53. and then we're gonna take on
the lamentation. Look first with me at verse 12. And about toward the middle part,
please notice it says that he was numbered with the transgressors. He was identified with the transgressors. He was counted as one of the
transgressors. And look at verse four. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Look with me at verse 11. He, God the Father, shall see
the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. And one more verse
at verse 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. Now with those four passages,
From this text here, let's turn back to Lamentation chapter three. Verse one. Let's read our lamentation again. I am the man that has seen the
affliction by the rod of his wrath. Do you remember that it
pleased the Lord to lose him? You see, when I was turning and
when we turn to this lamentation and we see ourselves and we see
our own affliction and we see our own sorrow, unless the gospel
preacher has told us We do not know that this is Christ dying
for me. It is I that felt his affliction
and his wrath in my heart. But when I look to Christ and
I look to his suffering on the cross and I look to his word,
I see it pleased the Lord to bruise him So you see, this lamentation
is not just about me. It's also about my substitute. Look with me at verse 15. He hath filled me with bitterness. Remember Isaiah? Sorry, I didn't
write the verse down. But surely he hath borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows. He hath filled me with bitterness. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and our sorrows. My griefs and my sorrows and
your griefs and your sorrows found right here in this lamentation
is borne by Christ our substitute. And look with me at verse 13. He hath caused the arrows of
his quiver to enter into my reins. And what is it that the Lord
said? He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. It is the Lord God Almighty whose
wrath fell on his son and the travail of his soul and he was
satisfied. You see, he was numbered with
the transgressors and I am a transgressor and now when I see and look in
this passage, I can still see me. But more than anything, now
I can see him. Now I see my substitute. I see my substitute. This I will recall in my mind. Therefore, have I hope. Amen.