Well, the privilege has surely
been ours. I remember many years ago, Brother
Mahan preaching at the church I attended in Madisonville. I understood to some degree what
he meant, but he said, I've got houses and family and brothers
and sisters all over this country, this nation. I'm just so blessed
to be able to experience that. I come here, it's like coming
home. It's truly one of the, as I said in the beginning of
the first meeting, one of the greatest tokens of God's grace
to us is giving us one another like-minded in the things of
God. It's sure not any trouble. It's
a blessing and it's a privilege. I appreciate our brother reading
for me the verses of Nehemiah. I hope you kept your place there.
It's not the easiest book to find. And if not, feel completely
free to look in your table of contents. I do that quite often. The history of Israel most definitely illustrates beautifully
the readiness of God to pardon sinners. In the Old Testament,
it seems clear that Israel was set forth as a pitcher of all
God's people. Israel was a people specially
favored of God, and yet they were a people who were just especially
ungrateful. So many times in different passages
we see that. And by nature, we too are ungrateful,
aren't we? We're not happy about that. It's
to our shame. But I have never been as grateful
for my salvation and God's providential care of me as I should be. Not once. And as I said, to my
shame, but nevertheless so. Now, to what other nation Did
God give the promise of redemption? To what other tribe did God separate
unto Himself to be a people in whose midst He would show forth
His glory? What other nation did He bring
forth out of the house of bondage and bondage, Egyptian bondage,
and deliver them with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm.
Israel, God's chosen nation. For what other people did He
pour out from heaven the judgment of all those plagues, smiting
their enemies with fierce and divine wrath? Was there any other
nation to whom he showed such mercy and grace? For what other race did he divide
the Red Sea, that they might walk across on dry land, and
then destroy their pursuing enemy, causing them, as our brother
read, to sink like a rock in mighty water? What a God! What other multitude of men and
women and children had food to eat that fell from heaven? To what other number did God
lead and guide for forty years, supplying them with absolutely
everything they needed without any labor of their own hands? And in their wandering, their
sandals never wore out. Their clothes never waxed old. And their feet did not swell in 40
years. When we were down in Mexico earlier
in the year, I've always had long, thin, skinny feet. I wear
a size 15. I wouldn't want any of you to
see me without shoes and socks on. I would run before I would
let that happen. But when we were down in Mexico,
my feet swelled up like little balloons. I don't know if I wasn't drinking
enough water or what little bit of walking we did. But for 40
years, as they walked in the wilderness, their sandals never
wore out and their feet never swelled one time. Isn't that
amazing? Oh, what a God. And they rebelled even though
they knew that they were highly favored. Oh, that brings such conviction to my heart. By God's
grace, I've seen that God has highly favored me as a sinner.
So undeserving. He's shown me the Gospel. He's revealed His Son to me. And yet, I'm so ungrateful. And I rebel. You rebel. We do, don't we? They grumbled, they murmured,
they complained, even though they were conscious that they
were a distinguished and an elect people. And it's the same with us. Their
iniquities were committed against a God whose hand they had seen,
whose voice they had heard. And they were absolutely dependent,
totally dependent upon God for everything. And yet, the Scripture
says they were proud. How can someone who's dependent
upon God Almighty for everything be proud? But we are, aren't
we? Well, I tell you, I'm proud of
my humility. Well, I'm just so humble. No,
you're proud. You're proud that you're humble.
We're messed up, aren't we? We're a messed up people. The Scripture says they and our
fathers dealt proudly. If any people in the world ought
to have been humble, Surely it would have been them.
And we can say the same about ourselves, can't we? If anyone ought to be humble,
it's God's people. What do we have that we have
not received? And if we received it, if it
was a gift from God, why would we glory at all in it? But they deliberately rebelled. And they hardened their necks
and hearkened not unto the Lord's commandments. Look at verse 16
again. But they and our fathers dealt
proudly and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments. Just refused to obey. Just flat
rebellion. Sadly and regrettably, that sounds
a lot like me. It wasn't that they made a few
mistakes. It wasn't that they just occasionally
fell into error or were ignorantly misled. They were unappreciative of God's
gracious deliverance that they desired bondage more than freedom. They refused to know and learn
the will of the Lord. They stopped their ears and they
closed their eyes. And wouldn't you think? Now,
just give thought with me for a moment on this. Wouldn't you
think that if you had seen the Red Sea divided and you were
led safely through on dry ground. I think that's in Scripture for
a reason. There was no mud on their sandals. It was dry ground. And you were led safely through
seeing Pharaoh's army, who was pursuing you, perish behind you
as God released the waters. Wouldn't you think? that you
would trust God all your life. And time and time and time again,
they rebelled. I'm telling on myself. I'm telling
on myself. Haven't we ourselves seen God
time and time again providentially divide troubles? Divide troubles and trials is
water delivering us over and over again. I've thought to myself
many times, you know, if I'd been there, we're real good at
that, aren't we? If I'd have been there, I'd have
done the same thing. I knew a man once who said if
I'd have been there when they crucified the Lord of glory,
I would have stopped it. No, you wouldn't. He would have
cried just as loud as the rest crucified. And if I had been
there and gathered that manna every day that fell from heaven,
and eaten it daily, I too would have been unthankful. We're talking
about the heart of men. If I had been led in the day
by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire, and
the way that I should go, surely I could have never fallen into
unbelief again. And yet I fall into rebellious
unbelief all the days of my life, knowing all that God has graciously
done and is doing for me daily. My next breath was a gift of
God. And within a few days after these people of God had seen the whole army of Pharaoh
destroyed, they began to murmur against God and against Moses. Yes, every day they ate the manna,
they drank the water that was so miraculously provided and
given, and yet they continually ask, is the Lord among us or
not? Are you kidding? Bread has fallen
from heaven. Water is coming out of a rock. Look at your shoes. They're brand
new. Your clothes look like they did
the day that you bought them and put them on. And you say,
is the Lord among us or not? And we do the same thing. God
provides for us, as I said, our very next breath. And then these
light afflictions, and that's what they are, friends, the things
that we experience, are light afflictions that God sends us.
You know, God sends our afflictions. And He does so to teach us and
to cause us to trust in Him alone. And we shake our fist and we
say, God, how could You allow this to happen to me? I say,
Amen or Omen. Because that's the truth, isn't
it? If we're honest with ourselves. I'm sure not proud of it, I'm
ashamed of it. But it's true nonetheless. And
if you and I were to search ourselves through and through, let me tell
you, we will never, ever, never, and I mean never, find anything
in our fallen and depraved nature that would recommend us to God.
Nothing. That's why it's grace. That's
why it's mercy. And to those of you who have
received the true light of the glorious gospel of Christ, you
have by grace seen that you are void of all merit and are without
excuse. To whom shall we turn for light? Let me ask you, to whom shall
we turn from light but to the Son of Righteousness? To whom
will we look for grace but to the God of all grace? All that we must have to be saved,
we should look no further than to Him who is all in all. Well, now that I've given you
the bad news, I would call your attention to the last part of
verse 17, that thou art a God ready to
pardon. Ready. Willing. Paul and I were
talking this morning. He delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. Not a God who may possibly pardon
if I behave right I do write. You know, my mother used to say
to me all the time, she said, and she always called me by my
first and middle name, David Lee, is what she called me. David
Lee, you better straighten up and fly right. I've never been
able to do that. I can't straighten up and I sure
can't fly right. God is not a God who can be pressured
or pushed to be persuaded to forgive. The God of heaven and
earth who spoke the worlds into existence and holds us now in
the palm of His sovereign hand is a God ready to pardon. Have you ever heard such a wondrous
thing in your life? He's willing. He's more than
willing. Ready, waiting to be gracious. But it's only in His beloved
Son that He pardons. It's only by the covering of
the shed blood of God the Son that we are pardoned. Now be
sure you understand this. This is very, very important
that you understand this. Christ did not die to make God
merciful. Christ died for His people because
God was merciful. You see that? Isn't that a beautiful
truth, isn't it? That's an amazing truth. What
makes it amazing is when we consider those to whom He forgives and
who He's ready to pardon. And again, I remind you that
Christ came into the world to save who? Sinners. He came to
seek and to save that which was what? Lost. That's an astounding truth. I'm
convinced that we've become callous to that word, sinner. Don't you
think we have? Oh, we're just so able to justify
so many things by just saying, well, you know, I am a sinner.
I'm a sinner saved by grace. But thank God that His Word doesn't
hide the wickedness of our hearts. And when we read passages in
His Word, like this one we find here in Nehemiah 9, may God show
us afresh. that He is ready to pardon the
most deceitful, wicked, ungrateful, ungracious, and wicked kind of
creature. Man. Man. Now, verse 16 gives us a
pretty vivid view of the kind of wretched
and wicked people that we are. And that God pardons. First,
we see that we're proud. But they and our fathers dealt
proudly. God resists the proud. And what
gives grace unto the humble? Proverbs 6.16 says, These six
things that the Lord hateth, yea, seven are abomination to
him, and the first one listed is a proud look. It comes before a lying tongue.
It comes before hands that shed innocent blood, hearts that devise
wicked imaginations, feet that are swept, and running to mischief
of false witnesses, feet, lies, and people that sow discord among
His people. First one listed. Again, what
does a sinner? A true bonafide sinner has to
be prayed about. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? But God did. Secondly, we see that we are
a hardened people. My, God shows me a little more
of that it seems each day. Hardened. We've hardened our
necks, allowing them to look only one way. My way. One of the most popular songs
in the 60's was that song, My Way. I did it my way. And you
know what? That's pretty much our theme
song, isn't it? And by nature, we proudly sing
it. I did it my way. Oh God, deliver
us from that. Not my way. Not my will. Isn't that what our Lord said?
Not my will be done, but Thy will be done. I don't want it
my way. Do you? I don't want it my way. I want it His way. He knows what's
best. And thirdly, verse 17 reminds
us that we're disobedient We refuse to obey. In our hearts,
which are deceitful above all things, as Jeremiah said, and
desperately wicked, we will not have God to rule over us. He commands and we refuse to
obey. But in Genesis chapter 6, God
says, My spirit shall not always strive with man. There's coming a day of reckoning,
friends. A day of judgment. What a warning
God gives us. I was reading in the book of
Hebrews. So many times we read and we go, I've never seen that
before. And I ran across this verse in Hebrews 12.25. I won't
make you turn there, but it says, See that ye refuse not Him that
speaketh. Oh, that just came up. I've never seen that before.
See that you refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escape
not who refuse Him that spake on earth, much more shall not
we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven.
See that you don't refuse Him, friends. Now, I know that we can't refuse
God's sovereign grace. But see that you don't. Make
it your business not to. Bow to Him. Bow to Him. That door of the ark is still
open. And fourthly, we see that With these carnal minds that
we have, they're just enmity against God. Like Israel, neither
are we mindful of God's wonders that He does among us. All the
things God did among us. How soon we forget His mercy
and His grace. How soon we forget His providential
provisions. My, He takes care of us. How soon we forget Christ who
lived perfectly for us, died innocently in our place, and
arose justifiably before a just God so that we might have life
abundantly in Him. I can't even go to the grocery
store without getting angry for somebody not driving the way
I think they should drive. That's a picture that shows that
deceitfulness, that desperately wicked heart of mine. And we're
told again in verse 17 of our Rebellious Nature, Israel and
their rebellion, it says, "...appointed a captain to return to their
bondage." You can read that again in Numbers 14, 4. Our natural
desire is to be in bondage. There is pleasure in sin for
a season. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am. He didn't say, O wretched man
that I was. Wretched I am. And like the Apostle
Paul, I want to do good, but I don't really do it. I'm determined
not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My good intentions,
such as they are, don't result in actions. What's wrong with
me? Something's gone wrong deep within
me. And it gets the better of me
every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. And the
moment I decide to do good, Paul said, sin's there to trip me
up. Do I really desire to return
to Egyptian bondage when I've been freed from the law of sin
and death? I know what Paul said in Romans
8 too. He said, for the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath freed me. You're free from the
law of sin and death. So here's the Gospel. May God
enable me to comfort you, His people, with this. But thou art
a God Ready to pardon. In spite of me, God loves me. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Gracious. Look at it. Verse 17. But thou art a God ready to pardon. Gracious and merciful. Slow to anger. And of great kindness. And He forsook them not. What
did our Lord Jesus say? I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Never. Aren't you glad He said never?
I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And Christ God is ready
and willing to pardon. The One to whom all of our sin
and rebellion is against is ready to pardon. Why? Because he's gracious and merciful.
Slow to anger. And of great kindness. And he
will not forsake those who trust in his Son. Oh, I must have the Son. Give
me Christ. Oh God. God is ready to pardon according
to His eternal purpose. God is a God of purpose, and
He on purpose saves His people, His elect, in His precious Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1, in
whom? Your salvation is in a person. In whom also have we obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to what? The purpose
of Him. It's the purpose of God who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. Now there's
a bed that I can stretch out on. There's a cover I can wrap
myself up in. And not only this, when Rebecca
had also conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth. If I have another
free will preacher tell me that God looked ahead in time and
saw who was going to be good and chose them based upon that,
I may hurt somebody. That's so blasphemous, isn't
it? That's saying salvation by works.
That's saying God looks ahead in time and sees you're going
to be a good little boy or girl, and then chooses you based upon
that. That's not what the Scripture
says. Know that the purpose of God, according to election, I
say, not of works, but of Him that It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Men say, that's not fair. Where does it say God has to
be fair? Our God's in the heavens. He's done whatsoever He's pleased. That's what's wrong with men.
They want fairness. Whatever God does is right. Christ was a lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. That just shouts the purpose
of God, doesn't it? Before rebellion ever took place
in Adam, the remedy of sin was already and absolutely sure because
of God's eternal purpose. sinner, there was a Savior. And this also declares that God
is ready to pardon because of His gracious provision in His
beloved Son. I heard Brother Henry's radio
broadcast this morning. He brought this out. But when
the fullness of time must come, God sent forth His Son. That's the provision. Made of a woman. Made under the
law. Why? To redeem them. To redeem you and I who were
under the law that we might receive what? The adoption of sons. Some of you may know this and
some of you may not. And I'm almost finished. Bear
with me a moment longer. I was adopted. My parents couldn't
have children. And they made arrangements to
adopt me long before I was born. I didn't have a say in the matter. They chose my name. They absolutely planned. They sacrificed everything for
me. Did I deserve it? No. Did I have anything to do with
it? Absolutely not. I hadn't even been born yet. And that's the same with us,
isn't it? He redeemed them that were under
the law that we might receive the adoption of sons and daughters. God's provision for sin is sending
forth His Son. God's Son was made of a woman,
made flesh and blood, made under the law as the sovereign provision
to redeem them that were under the law, you and I. Oh, bad news for all of sin to
come short of the glory of God. Good news being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. whom God has set forth." Did
you hear that? God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness. That's
what we declare. That's what your pastor stands
week after week and declares, isn't it? Not our righteousness.
His righteousness. Paul said to declare His righteousness
for what? The remission of sins. The payment
of sin. I don't have sin anymore. Christ
took my sin. Oh, God didn't just take my sin
and sweep it under a rug. His judgment and justice was
poured on His beloved Son. And what did I get out of it?
Perfect righteousness. Have you ever heard anything so wonderful? Don't you smile, don't you? Oh, to declare, I say at this
time, His righteousness, that He may be just and justifier
of him which believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ. God's ready
to pardon. That's what I want to leave you
with. God is ready to pardon. According to His eternal purpose
and His gracious provision in giving us His only begotten Son,
God is ready to pardon because of His satisfying substitutionary
sacrifice for God so loved that He gave. What did He give? His Son. For barely he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things, it
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." Behooved
him to be made like unto you and like unto I, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest and thanks pertaining
to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Oh, He made His grave with the
wicked and with the rich in His death, because He had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth, yet it pleased
the Lord. He pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, for he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and what shall be? What? Satisfied. God satisfied. Oh, and now the atonement being
made and justice being no longer able to offer any protest to
Christ's boundless sacrifice, God stands ready to pardon. By the blood of His dear Son,
He is able to blot out our offenses. to the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. God now smiles on guilty men
and women chosen of God. Why? Because we're not guilty
anymore. He's no longer angry with us. Rejoice in this promise of our
Lord, you who are the redeemed of the Lord. Our Lord said Himself,
All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. And I will
in no wise cast them out. Now let me say
this to those of you that are yet without Christ. Again, I plead with you. I plead with you. If I thought it would help, I'd
get on my knees and beg you. Now, Christ doesn't do that.
Don't ever picture God begging and pleading for sinners to come
home. But I am. I'm pleading with you. Don't
leave this life without Christ. In Him, God's ready to pardon.
If you have by grace seen your desperate need, then come to
Christ. Come right where you are. You
don't have to come up front. You don't have to move a muscle.
You come to Him in your heart. Oh my! He who is God's only chosen
remedy and provision for sin, He's ready to pardon sinners
who come to God by Him. I closed my Bible too soon. I
hope you did. I want you to look at one more
verse in the same chapter. Look down at verse 31. Nevertheless, for thy great mercy's
sake, thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them,
for thou art a gracious and merciful God. That's who's ready to pardon,
and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God make it so. May God make
it so. Paul, thank you. Thank you so
much.