Good evening. I want to say right in the beginning
what a privilege and honor it is to be here. The things that Paul said, I
just say ditto. We love him, and Teresa and I
love him and Mindy so much. They've been precious friends
to us and our renewed friendship, as he said. I know you know this,
but I wouldn't feel right going on without saying it. God saving us by His grace is
an amazing thing. It's what grace is. It's undeserved. It's unmerited. But I suppose
the second token of God's grace that is so precious to the child
of God is giving us each other. to fellowship and worship together,
and to give God's people a pastor after His own heart. There's
one thing I know about that man. He loves you. He prays for you. He's concerned for your souls.
And what greater gift could God give a people than that? I know
you know that, but I just wanted to to tell you again what a blessing
it is to have a pastor that truly loves you and cares for you.
What a great blessing of God. Tonight my text is in Micah chapter
7, but before you turn there, I want to quickly show you two
passages in the book of Psalms. The first is in Psalm 34. One
verse here. Remember correctly, I believe
Brother Gates Conacher preached on this verse to you when he
was here this spring. But it goes so beautifully with
my message that I wanted to just spend a moment or two on verse
6, Psalm 34, which reads, This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. and saved him out of all his
troubles." What a description of God's people. Poor. Poor. Blessed are those that
are poor in spirit. David tells us that every man
and woman by nature is poor. We're poor. We're needy. Helpless
beggars. Mercy beggars. Regardless of
how much money a man or a woman has or how many things they possess
in this world, they are spiritually poor outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, there are a multitude of
wealthy folks in this world that have no idea that they're spiritually
poor. And all are but poor and needy
before God Almighty, whether they know it or not. Poor beggars do one thing. They cry. They cry to the only
One that can truly help them. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's
Who we cry to. Temporal help today still leaves
the beggar in need tomorrow. No wonder the psalmist wrote
in chapter 60, verse 11, Give us help from trouble, for vain
is the help of man." Man's help is vain. And that's what every beggar,
mercy beggar, does who's in desperate need. In need of healing or need
of help. This poor man cried. When beggars
truly cry, They cry for mercy and notice that the Lord heard him. I can't find one time in Scripture,
I challenge you to, if you can, one time in Scripture where a
man came to the Lord Jesus Christ truly begging for mercy, but
he didn't find it. You can't find a time. The Lord
hears them every single time. This poor man cried and the Lord
heard him. Bartimaeus cried and the Lord
stood still. Isn't that amazing? And God commanded, God in the
flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ commanded him to be brought forth.
The cry of a poor and helpless sinner caused the Lord of glory
to stand still. The desire to show mercy stopped
him in his divine tracks. God delights to show mercy. Salvation is sure. We know that. The Lord will save the poor man
out of his troubles. But that isn't what the verse
says, is it? It says that the Lord will save
him out of all his troubles. I'm so glad that little word's
added. I'm so glad that he said all of his troubles. Complete,
full, and eternal redemption is always the result of poor
men and women who cry for mercy. Always. The Lord hears them and
saves them out of all their trouble. Trouble. That's a word that many
of us are quite familiar with. Turn over with me to Psalm 130,
if you would. Another passage that I think
is so needful for us to hear in this hour. Just the first four verses, if
you would. Psalm 130, verses 1-4. 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 supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But, my, how precious
is that little three-letter word in the Scriptures. But, there
is forgiveness with thee. that thou mayest be feared."
Before God brings His people, His elect, His chosen to Christ,
we all cry from the same place. God brings us all to the same
place. The depths. Out of the depths. We cry out the depths of sin,
and we cry out the depths of despair, Jeremiah's cry came
out of the depths of the dungeon. Daniel's cry came out of the
depths of the lion's den. Jonah's cry came out of the depths
of the water while in the fish's belly. And our cry comes out
of the depth of sin and despair. Isn't that where God brings us? Oh, God shows us our need before
we ever need our Savior. Out of the depths we cry unto
Thee, O Lord." All God's people will cry the same thing. Hear my voice. Hear my voice. This is a personal cry. It's
a cry from one who's in trouble. David said, I cried. I cried. It will not profit me, dear friends,
spiritually for you to cry and for me to remain silent. And
it will profit me not a thing eternally for the Lord to hear
you and not to hear me. This is a personal thing. I cried
and He heard my voice. Hear my voice. Hear my voice. We beg that God's ears will be
attentive to the voice of my supplications. That word supplication means
to ask humbly and earnestly. All God's people cry for the
same reason. Look at verse 3. If thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Who can stand
if you mark iniquities? We've all been made to know that
if the Lord will mark iniquities, hold us accountable for our sin
and divine justice, that none of us will be able to stand.
Who shall stand? The psalm is fast. Well, God
looked down from heaven, according to Psalm 53, upon the children
of men to see if there were any Were there any that did understand,
that did seek God? And what did he find? He said,
every one of them has gone back. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Friends, who
shall stand? God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, Genesis 6, verse 5, and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It was only evil, and it was
only evil continually. Who shall stand? Jeremiah said, The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? But
we know only God can. Who shall stand? Job said, Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. David said, Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 58.3, he said, the wicked
are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born. Speaking lies. I finally got something that
Paul and Mindy and many of you have had for a long time, and
that is a grandbaby. Precious little girl. The first
word she learned, Brother Henry, was no. Nobody had to teach her
that word. It became natural. No. We come
forth from the womb speaking lies, don't we? Rebellion against
God. Solomon said there's a generation
that appear in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their
filthiness. Friends, who shall stand? It's our iniquities that condemn
us. Let me ask you tonight, are you
compelled to plead guilty before God? If you are yet without Christ,
let me tell you, you're in trouble. But there is forgiveness with
thee. Now, here's the believer's hope.
If thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But,
oh, the sweetness of that little word. Our iniquities and our
trouble are great, but there is forgiveness with Thee. Our Lord said to His disciples,
will you leave me also? Where else will we go? Thou hast
the words to eternal life. Where are we going to go? Christ
is Lord. No place else to go. There are many that have been
told and believed, lied to, friends, lied to and told that the road
to heaven, the way to glory is a smooth, clear path. It's just
not so. But the child of God knows that's
not the case. Trouble meets us at every turn.
And no wonder Job 14 tells us that man that is born of woman
is a few days in what? Full of trouble. Full of trouble. What little time we're given
in this life. It just seemed like yesterday
I was a young man in high school, Close to 60 years old. Life is short. A man that's born
a woman is a few days. And it's full of trouble. It's full of trouble. But there
are many in trouble that are not aware of it. It hasn't been
revealed to them that they're in trouble. By nature, every
man, woman, boy and girl are in trouble. Spiritual trouble. There's one thing that causes
us trouble all the days of our life, and that's that little
three-letter word, sin. It so easily besets us, the Scripture
says. Sin is against God and God only.
That's what David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil. in thy sight." God is angry with
the wicked every day. In and of myself, I'm in trouble
and so are you. And there may be some of you
here tonight that are walking through this life just skipping
along and singing and having no idea just how much trouble
you're in. How sad that is. I have children
that I love with all my heart. And they're in trouble. They're in trouble. Bad trouble. Serious trouble. Life-threatening
trouble and they don't even know it. There's nothing more dangerous
than to be in trouble and not to know it. I once heard a cute
story. I'll tell you just because it
serves the purpose of a good illustration of being in trouble
and not knowing it. There was once a photographer
who worked for a major national magazine, and he was assigned
to get photos of a great forest fire. But the fire was so great,
the smoke so intense, that the scene hindered the man from getting
the photos that he needed. So he called his managing editor
and he said, I need to get in an airplane. I need to get above
this and take some aerial shots. So arrangements were made and
he was told to go at once to a nearby airport where there
would be a plane there waiting. He arrived at the airport. A plane was warming up near the
runway. He took off running and he jumped
in with his equipment and he yelled, let's go, let's go, got
to get up in the air. And the pilot took off and to
be honest with you, the takeoff was a little bit shaky. But they
took off and they were soon in the air and the man said, fly
over to the north side, fly over to the north side. He yelled,
the photographer, and make three or four low-level passes. And
the pilot said, why? And with great concern, I might
add. He said, because I'm going to
take pictures. He said, I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures.
That's why we hired you, he said, quite frustrated. And after a
long pause, The pilot looked over to the man and said, do
you mean you're not the flight instructor? They were in trouble. Now that's
a cute little story, friends, but there are many who are in
trouble and don't know it. And you'll never see that you're
in spiritual trouble unless God Almighty shows you that you are.
We've been looking in Genesis as I was telling Paul earlier
today on Wednesday evenings back home. This past week we were
dealing with where in chapter 7 God told Noah to come into
the ark. Come into the ark. I don't believe that was an invitation.
I believe that was a command. You either come into the ark
or you're going to die. And then a little further down, verse
16 or 17, it says, "...the Lord shut them in." The Lord shut
them in. And I made the comment, thank
God for wives. I need to run my message by her
before I preach it, because a lot of times afterwards, she says,
I wish I had thought of that beforehand. I was talking about,
can you imagine the crowd of people as they watched the animals
go in? The Lord brought those animals
in. And here's that one door. That's
Christ, isn't it? That one door. And here they
come, the animals, the elephants, fowls of the air by seven, two
by two. And most people had to know that
God was involved in that. But none of them went in. And after the service, Teresa
said, you know why they didn't go in? She said, it hadn't started
raining yet. God's wrath hadn't begun to fall. When the Lord shows you what
you deserve, What awaits those who are without the Lord Jesus
Christ? You see you're in trouble. And
you'll call out for mercy. When God shows you your need,
He'll show you the remedy. That's just the way He does it,
isn't it? I'm so thankful. But if you'll turn with me now
to Micah chapter 7, just after the book of Jonah I believe. Micah chapter 7. Take your time
getting there. I was reading this one day and
was just so impressed. I want to bring a message on
this. In verse 9 of chapter 7, Micah says, I will bear the indignation
of the Lord. The word bear means carry or
take. I'll carry. I'll take the indignation
of the Lord. Micah saw that in and of himself
he was in trouble. His confession shows that he
did. God, by His Holy Spirit, calls Micah to see the displeasure of God. And he knew
that he would bear the indignation and displeasure of God Almighty.
However, notice this. He did not say that he would
bear the wrath of God. Now, I think that's important
because Micah was a son and a servant of God, and he knew something
of his condition. He was spiritually poor. He was
a broken man. But he was a believing man. God's
elect people, now listen, are never under His wrath. The child
of God who has been washed with the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ shall never have to bear the eternal wrath of
God that the unbelieving will. God's holy justice has been completely,
perfectly, fully satisfied in our substitute, the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's beloved Son. We're loved by God with an everlasting
love. We're accepted in Him. And we
owe no debt to God's law for Jesus Christ paid it all. I owe
everything to Him. I owe Him my love, my faithfulness,
my service, my all to Him. All to Him I owe. A few Sundays ago, I brought
a message at home on the chastening of the Lord. You know, God does
not chasten His children with the rod of a judge. Aren't you
glad? He chastens with the rod of a
Father. And when He does, His indignation
is felt not against us, but against our sins. And isn't that what
Micah said? Look at it again. He said, I'll
bear the indignation of the Lord. Why? Because I've sinned against
Him. We will and must bear the indignation
of the Lord because God chastens those whom He loves. What a wonderful blessing. If
you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. As with daughters. As with children. For what son is he whom the father
chastened not? A loving parent disciplines their
children when they do wrong. And it's to teach them. It's
to instruct them. It's to break them. You know, it always broke my
heart. And I know probably each of you feel the same, but it
always broke my heart to disappoint my earthly father. It really
did. But how much more so should it
be with God, my heavenly Father? God chastens His children, according
to Hebrews 12, 10, which says, for our profit. For our profit. that we might be partakers of
His holiness. And I believe it was Mr. Sturgeon
who once said that humility, shame, and regret are the knees
of the soul with which we bow. Christ will never take us into
His arms until we lay ourselves at His feet, as our brother prayed. We fall at His feet with a sense
of our personal sinfulness. Have you been made to bow at
His feet as a poor, broken man or woman? Well, if you have, you'll confess
with Micah, I'll bear the indignation of the Lord because I've sinned
against Him. But friends, Micah had been made
to know much more than just his sin. Every child of God rejoices
in the blessed truth that God has provided an advocate, a mediator,
a Savior, a surety, a substitute. And once again, the gospel we
see here in verse 9. He said, I will bear the indignation
of the Lord because I have sinned against Him. And notice these
next words. until He plead my cause." That's
the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ pleading
my cause before the Father. Oh my, what wonderful news. He says, until He plead my cause,
and what? Execute judgment, not against
me, but for me. For me. Micah says, I've fallen. I've
sinned. I'm bearing the indignation of
the Lord because I fully deserve to. But Christ shall plead my
cause. And He'll plead yours if you're
one of His. And He'll execute judgment not
against me, but for me. Oh, if I could but convey and
communicate that thought as I desire to, If I could convey and communicate
one thing to you this evening, it would be this. There is One
in Heaven who is pleading your cause and executing judgment
for you. He who knew no sin was made to
be sin for us. Who? His people. His chosen. His elect. That we might be Made. Made the righteousness of God
in him. He is my righteousness. Because
of who He is, He's God's beloved Son. He pleads the cause of His
elect on the grounds of dying in His people's place. Oh, do you think He gets the
Father's attention? I can assure you He does. I have three boys. Whenever they
come to me, they've got my attention. But the Lord Jesus Christ gets
the Lord's attention because of what He's done for God's people. He pleads the believer's cause
because it was He who shed His precious blood up on Mount Calvary. Does that move you? Does that
give you comfort? I want to comfort you tonight.
If I don't do anything else, I want to comfort you in the
fact that there is One who is pleading your cause, if you're
one of His. He's pleading your cause. Does that cause you to rejoice
in Christ your Savior? Does that make you happy? Ah,
it makes me happy. Does that give you peace within? It should. Now here in the last
part of this wonderful verse of Scripture is the believer's
hope. Notice, He will bring me forth to the light and I shall
behold His righteousness. By the grace of God, friends,
every day, I see more and more of Him who is the light. And isn't that by God's grace?
God's not obligated to save anyone. He's not obligated to show us
these wonderful truths of the Scripture. But He's pleased to
show His people their only hope of salvation. In Him, in Christ, was life. And the life was what? The light
of men. He brings me to the light. And
our Lord said in John chapter 8, He said, I am the light of
the world, and he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life. If you're trusting in the Lord
Jesus Christ tonight, you've got the light of life. And He
continues to bring us forth to the light. He's made His desire
for me my desire for me. And now I say with the Apostle
Paul, I count all things but loss. loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Salvation is knowing Him. Not just knowing some things
about Him. Knowing Him. For whom I have suffered the
loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win
Christ. and be found in Him. Not having
my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. He'll bring me forth to the light
that I may know Him. And become more and more intimate
with Him who is my beloved Savior. Has that not been your experience? Those of you that trust in Christ
alone. Has that not been your experience? Oh, that I might, by being brought
forth to the light, know more concerning the power of His resurrection,
the fellowship of His sufferings. And in growing in the grace and
in the knowledge of Him and through faith in Him, I shall, like I
said, behold His righteousness. That righteousness is now mine. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done. No, no. Filthy rags righteousness. Fig leaf righteousness. And beloved, when I behold His
righteousness, I truly see that He was made to be sin for me. And then He made me righteous. He gave me His perfect righteousness. That's the greatest deal in the
history of all the world. I was made the very righteousness
of God, but it's in Him. Don't ever forget that. It's
in Him. My sin became His. His righteousness
became mine. And in Him, I'm perfect. I can't get over that. You know,
I live with this body of death every day. I live with it. I see the vow-ness of it. I see
the corruption that plagues it day in and day out, and yet God
says in Him, I'm perfect. Perfectly holy. Perfectly righteous. How could it come but by divine
substitution? God doing for me what I cannot
or could not do for myself. That's my only hope. That's our
only hope, isn't it? We're shut up to that. That's
what your pastor faithfully preaches to you week in and week out.
I know. I listen to him. I know. That's the only message worth
hearing. I'm not interested in hearing
anything else. Are you? Tell me again how Christ
died for undeserving sinners. That's all I want to hear. That's
the only message it is. That's what this man preached
faithfully for 60 years. The judgment and justice I deserve
is executed on my perfect substitute. And God is satisfied. God is satisfied and He keeps
bringing me to Him. Peter said to him, I have come and I'm still coming.
I need Christ right now. I need Him tomorrow. I need Him
forever. To whom coming? I'm still coming. Oh, what a glorious message.
Oh, what a glorious Savior. Micah said, I'll bear the indignation
of the Lord because I've sinned against Him. until He plead my
cause and execute judgment for me. And He will bring me forth to
the light and I shall behold His righteousness. Beloved, now
are we the sons and daughters of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. We see through a glass darkly. We know in part. But let me tell
you something. We know that when He shall appear,
and He's coming again, we shall be like Him. What a glorious
thought that is. We shall be like Him. Not we
might. Not if we do this. Not if we
do that. We shall. To be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is.
Oh, to be like Him. Oh, to be like Him. Let's pray together. Oh, Heavenly Father, to be like Christ. What a glorious thought. Lord, we believe, but help Thou
our unbelief. Lord, cause us to see that we're
men and women in trouble without You. Without You intervening
in our lives. By nature, we're full of trouble. But Lord, we know that You have
made provision that we have an ark of safety and of refuge in
Your beloved Son in whom You are well pleased. Cause us, Lord, to love Him more. Show us more of Him and our need
of Him. Show us, Lord, that He and He
alone is the believer's hope and salvation. Oh, to be like Him. Oh, to be
like Him. Lord, we ask You to bless these
services. Lord, that You might show us
more of Christ than Him crucified. Lord, I beg You personally to
use this unprofitable servant to comfort your people. Be with us as we leave tonight
and bring us back safely at the next appointed time. Lord, I
thank You for this church and the witness that it is in this
community. Lord, we pray that You bring
Your sheep into the fold. Only you can. Only you will. Thank you for the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for revealing to us
that He is salvation. And we thank you and praise you
and worship you in Him and Him alone. In His blessed name we pray,
Amen.