Take me, She, show me the truth
and seal within that word. In His eyes of grieving I see
the Lord. We sing these songs so many times,
don't we? I wonder how often we enter into
them. The woman who wrote this must
have written great hymns, or any music for that matter, is
always written inspired by deep heartfelt feelings, whether it
be sorrow, happiness, whatever need. And she says, my spirit
pants for thee. Oh, living Word. Did not David
say, as a heart panteth after the water broke? Will the Lord
bless someone that panteth after Him? Oh, yes. He says, break
the bread unto me as you did by Galilee. Will someone who
is hungry find bread? Every time. Oh, send thy Spirit,
Lord, now unto me. Me, me, me. Bondage, he said,
all bondage will cease. All fetters fall. Boy, I need that, don't you?
Oh, my. I draw near so often with my
nips when my heart is far from me. And the Lord looks on my
heart. Oh, Lord, here's my heart. Break
my heart. He said, a broken and a contrite
heart. To this man would I look. In
great mercy. Matthew 12. Matthew 12 and verse 9. And Mark that we read began this
way. Says he departed thence and went
into their synagogue. He went into their synagogue.
Their synagogue. I thought about that. What mercy,
what grace that the Lord went into their synagogue. He chose
the towns. And we read that in another place
that He went about all the cities and the villages teaching in
their synagogue. He went into their synagogue.
The Lord Jesus Christ actually came into their town and went
into their synagogue. He didn't have to do that. You
don't have to come here at all, do you? What is man that thou
art mindful of him, or would visit him? But he comes. Look at this little place, this
little synagogue. I often drive by here, and you
know, you see all these elaborate buildings all over, edifices,
and our little building is really not much to look at. It really
isn't. I'm thankful for it. I don't
despise it. I'm thankful for it. I'm glad
we've got a place, but it's really not much to look at it. But I
believe the Lord comes into this little place. I believe He has. I know He has. I know He comes. He said, where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am right there in the middle of them.
Think of that. Blessed fact, the Lord comes
into our synagogue. And he said, if anyone comes
in my name, where two or three, just two or three is all it takes
for the Lord to come visit. Anybody gathered in my name,
what's his name? That's his honor. It's his glory.
You're there for him. His honor. His glory. Not for
us. Not for our church and so forth,
but him. He said before that, where is
one greater than the temple? The Pharisees made the temple
to be everything. The Pharisees made their religion
to be everything. Christ said, if you don't have
Me, it's just an empty building. As the one that made the house
is greater than the house. Same with worship. Us, if we're
not gathered in His name to worship Him, we won't. But He did say, where two or
three are gathered. So He went into their temple. And he went into their temple.
He said, before that, I'll have mercy. If you'd known what this
means. I think I know a little bit.
I think I'm learning more. I want to grow in grace and the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His mercy. The Lord delights
to show mercy. I need it. My greatest need is
His mercy. He delights to show. He said,
I will have mercy. If you'd known what this means,
you'd come into the place, you'd come in my name, seeking mercy. And you know who he gives it
to? The needy, the poor, the needy, those that need mercy,
and those that show mercy. This place was full of some Pharisees.
They didn't come for mercy. They didn't need mercy. And they didn't get in. Oh my
Lord, let me be this man with your hand today. Today. Wherever the Lord was, there
were His disciples. They were always with Him. Just
as we said, two or three. He had twelve. Wherever the Lord
was, His disciples were. They loved Him. Why? Because
He first loved them. They were with Him. Why? As our
brother said, if the Lord hadn't called him, he wouldn't be here. He went up into a high mountain
and called whom he would. By this gospel. You know, this
is the power of God. Disciples came. Now, I want to
be one, don't you? A disciple. Wherever the Lord
was, there were sick people. Did you read with me how wherever
He went, multitudes swarmed him. They had heard that he healed
sick people, so whoever had a plague came to him. If you had a plague,
no matter what it was, you'd come to him and he'd heal you.
It says he healed all that had need of healing. Every single
person. I wish I could get a hold of
that. Every single person that had need of healing, the Lord
delights. I thought about that verse this
morning. He delights to show mercy. Whatever you delight in
is something that gives you great joy, great happiness. In other words, you just can't
wait to do it. You delight in it. He delights
to show mercy. We're ready to show mercy and
we are at the passport. He waits to be graced. I'm sick. I believe I'm a disciple, but
I'm plagued. I have all manner of diseases
in me yet from this terrible, loathsome disease called sin.
Lord, would you touch me? Please. But then there were Pharisees.
Wherever the Lord was, there were Pharisees. Pharisees weren't listening to
his Word. They were trying to catch him. They weren't disciples. They
weren't learners. They knew all they needed to
know. Oh, I know that already. They weren't needy. They thought
God needed them. They thought the synagogue needed
them. They thought church couldn't be church without them. They
thought they couldn't get along without them. They're going to find out. But there's one fellow in that
place. In that synagogue that day, there's
no accidents with the Lord. The lot is cast to the left.
Did this man go to the synagogue every day? I don't know. What's his name? Simeon in Luke
2. He did. He went there every day. He went there every day. What
was he doing? Seeking the Lord. Did he find Him? Oh my. He said, mine eyes have seen
thy salvation. Let thy servant to pardon thee. Did this man
come every day? I don't know. I don't know. Perhaps. The fact of the matter
is, he was in the synagogue that day. On that very day that the
Lord came to that synagogue. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Did this man
have a need? Yeah, he had a withered hand.
Had he been calling on the Lord? I believe he had. Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Listen to Psalm
12. Listen there. Listen. Listen.
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety from
him that pacified him. Behold, there was a man. Verse
10. There was a man. A man. God saves men. He came into this
world to save sinners. Sinful men. It says a man with
a withered hand. His hand was withered. Was he born that way? Probably. Or did he have a stroke? That
will do it, won't it? paralyze you, leave your hand
withered, your face and so forth. Arthritis, those things. What
caused this hand to be withered? Was he born that way? Did he
have a stroke? Was it arthritis? God did it. God did it. That's what did it. That's God's first cause of all
things. You know that? That's fact. The world doesn't
believe that. But He is. And you know this is going to
be for the glory of God? It's going to be for the glory of
God. We blame this and we blame that. And we need to realize,
in all things, whatever it is, it's the Lord. And He does what
seems good to Him. Healthy baby, unhealthy baby.
sickness, wellness, prosperity, birth. It's the Lord. And it's
going to be. It all is for His glory according
to His purpose. We're going to see this, aren't
we? We're going to see it. Thank God. I'm thankful that
God predestines all things. I'm thankful that the Lord, the
whole disposing thereof is of the Lord, or I would like to
Sarah and Abram, I do make a mess out of time. I make a mess, and
he has to clean it up. Let me just tell that again,
what Brother Scott said, for your rejoicing. Brother Scott,
who went through a great deal of trouble, many severe trials
all his life, didn't he? All his life. Lost his first
daughter born. Young girl. Wayward sons that
grieved until the day died. Ill health. Lost his wife. Was a widower before he died,
she did. Great bodily affliction of all
kinds. And he said in his latter days,
he said to his people, like Paul of old, went through so much,
yet comforted God's people with the same comfort where he was
comforted. But as God said, if you knew
what God knows, you would order things exactly like He ordered. He wouldn't change a thing. And
someday we will. We will know as we've been known.
And we're going to thank Him to high heaven for doing it just
like He did. Yes, we will. Every one of them. This man was born with a withered
hand. Terrible affliction in it. I believe he was probably
born that way. Whatever, he had a hand that
was useless, was powerless, was worthless. He couldn't do anything
with that hand. He couldn't help himself. He
couldn't defend himself. He couldn't feed himself. He
couldn't help others. He couldn't do for others. This
hand was useless. You know, Luke's account says
the right hand, his right hand. You know that nine out of ten
people are right-handed? Nine out of ten people are right-handed. I am right-handed. I do everything
right-handed. I can't do anything left-handed.
Honestly. Anybody like that? I can't brush
my teeth. I remember one time I had something
wrong with my hand and I had to brush my teeth. Anybody? Anybody that bad? I
am. I couldn't do anything. The point
being, the right hand is my power. The right hand is my strength.
The right hand is my ability. And you know, Christ is called
the Son of the right hand. Without Him, we couldn't do anything.
Nothing. But in myself, I can't do anything. I have no ability. I have no
power. I have no strength. I can't feed myself. I can't
protect myself. I can't do anything. Anybody?
You know, we're all like that, whether we know it or not. We're
born that way. We're born that way. Listen to our condition,
what the Scripture says about all of that. The Lord looked
down and says, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that
understand it. No, not one. There's none that
seeketh after God. They've all gone out of the way.
All we luck sheep have gone away, astray. They've together become
unprofitable. Put them all together, they're
nothing. There's none that do it good. No, not one. Not an
ounce of good. Their throat is an open sepulchre. Why is it easier to cuss than
it is to bless? Because that's the way we were
born. With their tongues they've used
deceit. Why is it easier to speak lies? We've come forth from the
womb speaking lies. Why is that easier? Because we're
born that way. Poison of asps is under their lips. Why is it
easier to hate somebody and say something mean than it is to
say something nice? Because we're born that way. Their mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood, run to see blood. They love the sight of it. Destruction
and misery in their ways, a way of peace they have not known,
no fear of God before their eyes. And the hands are the worst instruments
of sin of all, aren't they? Who shall ascend unto the holy
hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands. You know, the Scripture says
whatever your hand tries to do, do it with all your might as
unto the Lord. I can't do it. Do you know what
I do with all my might? I do it for me. I do it for me. My hand's withered. You know,
when a hand is withered, the hand is withdrawn, it's drawn
in. The hand is clutching itself.
when a hand is withered. And you know, children are born
this way. They're born like this. Clutching itself. Balled up.
Clutching itself. Clinging to itself. Holding on
to self. Holding on to me. You know what
they call a stingy person? Tight-fisted. And we're born that way. We're
born loving self. We're born loving sin. We're
born loving this world. We're born grabbing hold of the
things of this world. We won't let go. We won't let
go of self. We won't let go of sin. We won't let go of this world
until the Lord says to us. Our only hope is if the
Lord for us and our children, that the Lord will loose us of
our stronghold, our love for sin and self, and open our hand
and make us turn loose and lift up our hands unto Him. And reach
out. We used to sing the song, Reach
Out and Touch the Lord. Well, before we did this, here's
some Pharisees. some Pharisees, they asked him,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days, that they
might accuse him? You know, some of you were in
legal religion under the law. The law is a curse. The law is bondage. The law is
hard. And those that are under it are
hard. Did you find that to be so? Those that are under are
hard. You know, anybody that's always talking about the law
is usually a mean person, isn't it? Anybody that's always bringing
up the law to accuse someone, they're guilty. No, they're the ones that are
guilty. Whatever a man harps on all the time, he's probably
guilty. In Mark 3 that we read, would
you turn back there quickly, Mark 3, this is why we read this,
Mark 3. It says this, look at it, Mark
3, in verse 4. He said to them, is it lawful
to do good on the Sabbath days or do evil? Save life or to kill? the ones doing evil, killing. They held their peace. And it
says, He looked on them with anger. God is angry with the
wicked every day, Scripture says. He looked on them with anger.
No doubt the Lord is angry with the violent, the bloody, the
cruel, the deceitful, the open, vile sinners of this world, but
He's angry with religion. He really is. angry with religion. His greatest anger, I believe,
is reserved for religion. Didn't he say it would be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah? Self-righteous religion is full
of the meanest people on earth. You know that? Religious people
are some of the meanest people on earth. Dad used to say, most
people have just enough religion to make them miserable and everybody
else around them. And that's so it is. when Gabe
had the music store. Mindy worked there and somebody,
some woman called and she needed something. And she left a message
on the answering machine. She got an answering machine
and she was so irate. Why, the nerve of him not to
pick up the phone, you know. What could they be doing? Anyway, she left a message on
the machine that said, I need an amp, and I need it now. I
need an amplifier now for my church. You don't need an amp. You don't
need an amp at all. You don't need amplification.
Loudmouth woman. But the point is, Religion's
mean. The law is mean. People bringing
up the law are mean. We're not under the law, thank
God. We're under grace. Aren't you glad? Aren't you thankful? The law would condemn everybody
but themselves. I mean, those under it would
condemn everybody but themselves. Look at them. They're all a bunch
of sinners. What did the Lord do? He condemned all of them.
And not the guilty one, the woman. Oh, you don't want to be under
the law. That's what Paul said. Tell me you that desire to be
under. You don't hear it, do you? You don't know what a curse
it is. You know what bondage you're under. Well, look at this in Mark three,
also in verse three, the Lord said to the man. He spoke to
the man first after he spoke to them, he spoke to him or after
they answered him, they asked him a question and he spoke to
the man. He said in verse 3, look at it with me. Stand forth.
Stand here in the midst. Come here. Stand right there
in front of me. Stand forth in front of all these
people. Now there's a reason the Lord did this. Stand forth. Is the Lord going to embarrass
this man? He's drawing attention to his
affliction. Stand up here, where everybody
can see you. Is the Lord belittling this man?
Is the Lord embarrassing this man? Is the Lord doing something
cruel to this man? Exposing his weakness in front
of everybody? Oh no, he's showing great grace. Great grace. Everybody's going
to see what the Lord Only the Lord can do. But you've got to
see, first of all, just how bad it is. You've got to be exposed. The Lord's got to make you stand
in front of everybody and show your affliction, show your infirmity. You've got to see it. The fact
of the matter is, they'll see it for you. They'll see it. You know what? We're going to
have to acknowledge our sin. You know, this is what the Lord
does to every person. The first thing he does to every
person is show them what sinners they are. I can't do it. Parents can't
do it. Husband or wife can't do it.
But the Lord does it. The Lord deals with a person
personally and says, stand up. Like he came to Hagar, you know. Hey, girl, you're handmade. Where
are you going? Look at you. Look what you've
done. Now look to me. Stand up. Stand up. You know, he that covereth his
sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh
them shall have mercy. Mercy is what I want. Mercy is what I need. If we confess
our sin, Scripture says He is faithful and just to forgive
our sin. And you know what? The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. And you know what the Lord said?
Did you read the article on baptism this morning? Did you? For what it's worth, I'm not
a very good prolific writer like Joe Terrell and some of these
fellas. My father was a prolific article writer. It takes me a
long time to write an article. A long time. I spend about three
hours on that. Why? I won't write one unless
I think it's really needful. Most of the time I read good
articles and I think, why not write anything? This is good.
But sometimes I feel impressed to do so and I do it for you.
for us, not to be read other places. The article is on baptism. And
our Lord said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He said, If you confess Me before
men, I'll confess you before the angels in heaven. If you
deny Me, I'll deny you. Stand up here. Get in that pool. You confess me, and I'll confess
you." The Lord wasn't embarrassing him. He may be humble in him,
but it was to show great grace. For he that is humble will be
exalted. He that acknowledges his affliction will be made whole
completely. He looked around on his knees
with anger, and back to Matthew 12. Go back there. And he said
this in verse 11 and 12. What man shall there be among
you that shall have one sheep? If he fall into a pit on the
Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How
much then is a man better than a sheep? What man of you having
one sheep? Would the Lord of glory leave
heaven for one sheep? Would He? Yes, He does it every
time. Every time. He said that. He
said he leaves a ninety and nine to go after the one in the wilderness.
And when he finds it, it's not if, it's when he finds it. He
said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And he goes
after every single one of them because he's a good shepherd.
He's a great shepherd. He's a chief shepherd. He never
lost a sheep. He said, of all the cows given
me, I've lost nothing. None of them is lost except that
one that I chose to be a devil. But he goes after this one in
a pit. In a pit, you know we dwell in
a pit, like a lot, remember, was in the slime pits of Sodom,
remember that? We dwell in a pit. You know what
this world is like to the Lord Jesus Christ? A slime pit. For the Lord to come down to
this cesspool of iniquity is like us to get in an open sewer
hole. That's right. Would the Lord
come to sin, leave heaven itself, glory, and holiness, and goodness,
and happiness, and peace, and love, and mercy, and grace, and
kindness, and sweetness, and gentleness, and wherein dwelleth
righteousness, to come to this cesspool of iniquity for one
fellow that didn't even want him to come in the first place? Yes, he does. Why? Because that's who he is. That's who he is. Pit. I like old westerns. I was watching an old western
one time. This cowboy from Texas. They
were down in Texas, a big ranch in Texas. And one of his calves
got in a tar pit. A pit of tar. Down in Texas before
automobiles, before oil wells, oil just came to the surface.
There was so much oil in the ground that it came to the surface. And there would be these big
lakes full of oil and it would turn to tar. It was useless to
them. They didn't want it. It was oil. They had oil all over their property.
It was a nuisance to them. Why would we need that? Think about the irony of that.
They wish they didn't have this oil. Now the world thinks they're
dependent on it. Oh, but you're going to need
that to fill up your horseless buggy. Why would I need that?
I've got a good horse. No, I'm fine the way it is. At
any rate, this calf fell in this tar pit. Okay? He ain't getting
out. and the sticks and the mires
and the muck and the mire clay. He's going to drown. What did
the cowboy do? You know what that cowboy did?
He got off his high horse, his white hat off, put it on that
saddle horn, and he got down in that pit. And he had his rope,
he had his line, his cord. He loved that calf. He needed
that calf. He wanted that calf. And he wrapped
that calf up with that cord, got down in that pit, and he
got black all over her. He embraced that calf and wrapped
that cord around it and got back out and pulled it out with cord.
Pulled that calf out of that miry pit. And he himself was
made black. God hath made him to be sin for
us. God sent His Son to this world. You know, people quote
that John 3, 16 all the time. They don't have a clue what they're
saying. God so loved the world that He
sent His only begotten Son in this place. I would not do that. I would not do that. Are you
hearing this? I would not send my only begotten
daughter into a cesspool to get somebody that didn't want me
to come. But I'm not God. Aren't you glad God's not a man? Heavens are higher than the earth,
so is his mercy higher. Then he said to the man, he said
to the man, spoke to the man, stretch forth thine hand. The
Lord spoke to him, stretch forth thine hand. He said, stretch
forth your hand. He can't. He can't do this. The Lord said, do it. He can't
do this. Do you know what he did? He stretched it forward. He did it! He did it! The Lord wasn't mocking him. The Lord didn't tell him to do
what he wouldn't give him the power to do. Do you know what
the Lord says to be saved? Do you know what He says? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what? Thou shalt be saved. Well, you know what I did one
day? By the grace of God. Faith is not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. But you know what I did one day?
By His grace. And I still believe. Oh, Lord,
help my unbelief. I do now what it's impossible
to do. You know, you can't get somebody
to repent. It's the goodness of God that leads a person to
repentance. The first thing we need is repentance. The first
thing our children need, all of us need, is to repent and
know what we are. We can't convince anybody that
they're sinners. Only the Spirit of God does.
You know what? One day, he came to me. I was in a hog pen, this prodigal
son, and he opened my eyes. Right, Kelly? He opened our eyes.
He came to me and said, Repentance is a gift of God.
You know what? To believe. Faith is a gift of God. To believe
someone you've never seen. To love the truth that you once
hated and didn't want to hear it. To love the truth that you
didn't want to hear. I don't want to hear that anymore.
Bless God, he said. You say, yes you do. And I do. Love the truth. To hate self.
You can't hate yourself. It's impossible to hate yourself.
God, through the Gospel, brings you to hate yourself. That's
what He said in Ezekiel 36. He said, I'm going to give you
a new heart and you're going to loathe yourselves. You're
going to smite your thighs and say, why did I do what I did?
Why was I like I did? What's wrong with me? Why was
I so dumb? You're going to hate yourself.
You're going to love others. You're going to esteem others
better than yourself. Boy, that's impossible to do. Stretch forth your hand. Let's
lift up our hands unto the hills. David said, unto thee I stretch
out my hand. He said about Paul, one time
Saul of Tarsus, Saul prayed to be seen before. Now he prays
to the Lord to be heard. Behold, he's praying, stretching
out his hand to God. Unless you call on the Lord,
you won't be saved. Unless you open your hand, Open
your hand. He said, give, and it will be
given to you. Show mercy, and it will be shown
mercy to you. Give. Open your hand. Reach out. Touch the Lord. Stretch
out your hand. Call on the name of the Lord.
Give, and it will be given to you. Freely you receive. Freely give. Boy, that's impossible,
isn't it? As old Nabal said, am I going
to give my money that I earned to this fellow named David? You're going to die if you don't.
Are you a fool? That's God's game. Well, I don't
know it, but he is. How long was this man's hand
withered? Maybe a long time, maybe all
his life. I don't know, but I believe it's to show the Lord's long
suffering and to show, is anything too hard for the Lord? How old
was he? Forty years? Fifty years old?
I don't know. But is anything too hard for the Lord? Is a hand
too withered for the Lord to open up? Is a person too old
for the Lord to say, to do anything with? No, because the Lord is
able to say to the uttermost. However, I fear for those who sit under
the Word for years and years and years, and never call, and
never cry, and never confess the Lord. Those who sit under
grace and receive grace and never open their hands to give, to
serve, never reach out to others. Others reach to them. They never
reach out. Never stretching forth a hand. Only clutching and clinging
to self. I fear for them. Why? Because I believe the Lord's
return is very soon. And I believe today is the day
of salvation. I mean today. When the Lord said that, he said
it about six times. Today is the day. Stretch forth
your hand. Stretch forth your hand. And when the Lord does, it says he was made whole. Believe. You'll be complete. Stretch out
your hand. Call. You'll be saved. Call on
the Lord. Barnard, you sad devil dog, dare
you? Only the Lord can make a man
stretch out his hand. It's impossible for him to do. Like old Zacchaeus, turned loose
everything. The Lord went to dwell with him.
Let me close by telling this story. It's as good as I've got
right now. Somebody hadn't heard it surely.
Barnard was preaching in a meeting years ago, and he went to eat
at somebody's home. And the man owned a tavern, a
bar tavern. And, you know, a bar is a bar,
it's not good. No good bar, not a good place
to be, period. Especially if you own it and
have that as your business. Think about who you deal with.
Anyway, Barney was at this man's home
and he was eating and the man's wife was at the meeting and invited
Barnard, and the man was sitting there at the table that day,
and he hadn't been coming to the meeting. He wasn't interested,
but he was interested in eating. So they sat there at the table,
and they were both quiet. Barnard's eating, the man's quiet,
the woman's quiet, and finally the man spoke up and said, Preacher!
He said, I guess you wonder why I haven't been coming to the
service. Barnard looked up and said, Well, I guess. And the man said, because I own
a tavern, and every preacher I've talked to has told me that
if I'm going to be saved, I ought to sell my tavern. He said, I
ain't selling my tavern. I ain't going to do it. I've
worked too hard. It's been my life. Supported
me well. I'm just not going to sell that
tavern. I'm martyred and kept eating. And he said, did you
hear me? I ain't going to sell my tavern."
Myers said, you don't have to sell your tavern to be saved. He said, what? He said, you don't
have to sell your tavern to be saved. And the fellow said, well, I
think I'll come hear you. And he did. He did. He came. He came the first night.
He came the second night. You know, the Lord saved that
old boy through the preaching of the gospel. Preaching the
gospel. He heard the gospel. The Lord
saved him. You know what he did? You know what the first thing
he did was? Put a sign out in front of that tavern. For sale. Stretch out your hand. Let go
of that. Come unto me. He can't. He did. Believe. He won't. He did. Repent. She won't. She did. When the Lord calls. When the Lord calls. Alright.
Let's sing. Here, I'm in closing, Brother
John. Let's see. I had it. 359. 359. So, Stan will sing
the first.