Thank you, Brother Paul. First
of all, I'd like to say that it's my privilege to be here
with you tonight. It's a real joy, and I count
it a real honor to be here with you tonight. I thank the Lord
for you, and I thank the Lord for the fellowship he has brought
us together into. As your pastor mentioned, the
love that is shed abroad in our heart, the Lord Jesus Christ's
love to him and love to everyone that is born of him. I am thankful to be here with
you tonight. In a moment I will be showing
the pictures, as you know. I love to preach the gospel whenever
I have the opportunity, and I will try to be real brief. I have
a little note right here that tells me. But I was at a church, and I won't
mention where, and I'm not trying to be—I'm not trying to—oh, I'll
just tell you what he said. He asked me whether or not I
knew of any opportunities for a missionary pilot. And I thought,
what in the world is a missionary pilot? And I said, Can you preach? I said, Do you preach? And he
said, Well, I can. I said, Well, are you called
to preach? He said, No. I said, Well, if you were called
to preach and you happened to fly, that might come in handy. We are called to go forth and
preach the gospel. And I love to stand and proclaim
the grace of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And one of the
things that many people have said over the years is, You never
talk enough about the work. So I'm thankful for this opportunity
to be able to show you some pictures. And they say a picture paints
a thousand words. So after this brief I'll show you the pictures. Open
your Bibles with me, if you will, tonight to Psalm 130. The true believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ is one who continually comes to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who continually comes. We never, never reach a time
when we do not need his mercy, need his grace. And we continually
come to him for mercy. I needed mercy yesterday, I need
mercy today, and I'll need mercy tomorrow. The Apostle Peter said,
To whom coming? To whom coming? And I want us
to notice here, this cry that we have here in Psalm 130 is
the cry of a is the cry of a believer. It says in verse 1, Out of the
depths have I cried unto thee. Out of the depths. A person is
never going to cry unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy until,
by the Spirit of God, he is brought to this point of being deep in
misery, until he comes to the realization that he cannot save
himself. God's not going to share his
glory. And if a man has just but a fingernail of ability,
supposed ability, he will use that to climb himself, try to
climb himself into glory. But by the Holy Spirit, when
the Lord sends his Spirit and teaches a man what condition
he is by nature, who he is by nature. dead in trespasses and
sin. When the law comes by the power
of the Holy Spirit and teaches us that we are sin and that we
are in our minds by wicked works, then that's the right use of
the law to shut us up to the mercy of God in Christ Jesus,
to turn to him and cry, God have mercy on me. You notice it's out of the depths. How many people think that they're
going to turn over a new leaf? They're going, I'm going to straighten
up, fly right. I'm going to straighten up, and
I'm going to start going to church, and I'm going to do some things,
and then I'm going to come to Christ. No. The songwriter had it right.
Let not conscience make you linger, nor fondness fitly dream. You don't have any. But all the
fitness he does requires to fill your need of him. Out of the
depths. While you're in the depths. While
you're in the depths of misery. You know, that's when... Can
you see Jonah? Can you see Jonah in the fish's
belly? Oh, he was in a deep place, wasn't he? He was in darkness,
in a deep place. And he cried out, Salvation's
of the Lord. And notice that the cry is, Out
of the depths have I cried unto thee. Have I cried unto thee. Salvation is in a person. Salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And a person is never going to
cry to him who is the Savior, lest he hears of him. You know,
blind Bartimaeus was in a dark place. He was in a deep hole.
But he heard that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming by. He had
heard. We know that he had heard because
he called on him by his name. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. He called. He called upon him.
Have I called upon thee, O Lord, Jehovah, God our Creator, God
our Savior. Salvation is in a person. It's
not in a creed. Salvation is not in a church
or organization. But it's in a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ, in him. And notice how the person that
comes to him must believe that he is, and he's the reward of
him that diligently seeks him. You come to him as one who can
say, one who can say, Lord, Lord, It's no sense crying to anybody
that's lost his faith, and maybe somebody might prevent
him, but this is not the one to whom the believer calls. We
call to the one who is sovereign, the one who none can shake his
hand and say, what doest thou? To thee, O Lord. Oh, I feel my
heart goes out to the people who cry. to the saints and to
Mary and to the idols. They are crying to a God who
cannot save. Wasting their time. Because He can't hear. He can't
save. He can't deliver them. But the
true believer calls unto the Lord Jesus Christ. The One who
can save. Mighty to save. His arm is not
short. My arm is not short that I can't
redeem. He is Lord God Almighty. And
notice how the psalmist says, Out of the depths of according
to thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice. Oh, we know that God is
not deaf. He hears, but we're talking to
the one who can say, Lord, hear my voice, hear my cry. Be attended
to the voice of my supplication. Hear my cry. And this is all
we want when we come to God. We know that if we're heard,
we're heard. by the Lord Jesus Christ. We're heard. The Lord
Jesus Christ said, no man can come to the Father but by me.
That is, when we pray, we say in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's not something we just say to let people know
the prayer is over. We start the prayer in the name
of the Lord Jesus. We can't come to God and be accepted
except through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear my voice. And that's what's important.
Does he hear me? Does he hear me with an attentive, when it
comes through the door? Well, I'll give you a better,
I'll talk about, I won't talk about when, I'll talk about something happened today. We
were downstairs working on the computer, and Mindy was calling
us to eat. And she called, and she called,
and she called. But you know what? What was important
is, did we hear? When it comes through the door
sometimes, from the time she hits the door, she starts talking. She gets through the room and
I'm doing something else. And then she'll come back and
act like I'm supposed to answer yes or no. I'm in trouble. Or she'll do something. I told
you so. But what's important is, do you hear? Does he hear?
And he does hear our voice. And it's the supplication. We
come to the Lord as needy sinners, supplication. It's not demands. It's not conditions. You do this and I'll
do that. We come to him with supplication. So you see here this, the voice
of the believer coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. He has a need,
a deep desire, a need. And a person that comes to God
is going to need a Savior. If he comes, he's going to need.
And until, by the Holy Spirit, he's shown his need, he won't
come. The well don't need a physician.
And those who think that they have a righteousness, they won't
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. But when the Spirit of God teaches,
that's a good thing. As someone said, the sinner is
a holy thing. The Holy Spirit has made him
one. Reveal his need. Notice it says
here in verse 3, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O
Lord, who shall stand? No one. There shall no flesh
be justified in his sight by the doings of the law. That is,
in our own doings, our own ability. No one can stand before God.
God demands perfection. Who shall ascend unto the holy
hill? Only the One, Lord Jesus Christ, and for those that he
represented. But what the Psalmist and whatever
believer recognizes and comes to God is, I'm a sinner. I'm
a sinner in need of a Savior. And we will never leave this
position of need of a Savior. As long as we're in this world,
we need a Savior. If you ever get to the point
where you don't need a Savior, does that mean you're no longer
a sinner? Well, that's not happening. If you should mark iniquities,
and he does mark iniquities. Be sure of that. The Lord does
mark iniquities. Wherever sin is found, God must
punish sin. And God will punish sin wherever
it's found. It was found, the sin of his
people was found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he spared not
his beloved son, but delivered him up for us all. He was made
sin for us who knew no sin, and he was nailed to the tree. He cried, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Because thou art holy. Thou art
holy. He is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity. Who shall stand? Oh, but look
here at verse 4. Look here at verse 4, "...but
in thee." But there is forgiveness in thee, with thee. There is
forgiveness. Aren't you glad that God reveals
Himself in His Word as a God who delights to show mercy? Who
is a God like unto thee? Who is a God like unto thee that
pardons iniquity, that delights to show mercy? But when he does so, he must
do so in a way that he's just, that his law is honored, but
he delights to do so. And we could never say that unless
God had first said that of himself. But there is forgiveness within,
by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, that thou
mayest be feared, that thou mayest be reverenced. You know, the law doesn't cause
fear. The law, all the law does is make you want to break it.
Say, don't do that. Try it with your little kids.
Don't do that. First thing they're going to do is do that. But the grace of God, the grace
of God teaches a man to fear, to want to please the Lord. And
I'm not saying that we do, but we want to. We have a desire
to. No one fears the Lord except
those who have experienced the pardon and the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The gratitude, gratitude for
the forgiveness of sins causes a person to serve and love. That thou mayest be feared. Now
look here at verse five. I wait for the Lord. my soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope." Here the psalmist is talking about waiting, which
is an expectation—an expectation. Not waiting in the sense that,
uh, I won't sit here and wait, but I am—I believe. I'm expecting. I have a confidence. Faith is the substance of things,
hope, or the evidence of things, and I say, I believe. I'm waiting. Therefore, I'm waiting. I know
He's coming. I know He'll hear me. I'm going
to call. Just keep on coming. Keep on
coming. I wait for the Lord. My soul
doth wait, and in His Word do I hope. Now, that's the foundation
of our That's the foundation of our confidence and assurance.
God said so. The Lord said so. The Lord said
that all those that come to God by him, he will in no wise cast
out. All that the Father gives me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Come to me. Come to me. Come. Oh, everyone that stares to come.
I won't cast you out, but come, come." And that's a sure word. That's
a sure word from God who cannot lie, from God who cannot change. My hope is based on the Word
of God. What we have, the Word of God,
and by the way, a lot of people have
their trust in traditions or ideas. And I told this to the
congregation there in Medea. I said everywhere in Yucatan,
if you think something of God and you can't find it in the
Word of God, that's an idol. Repent from it. Repent from it. That's an idol. Turn from it.
Turn to a living God. Only put your trust in what God
says. Roman Catholicism is full of tradition. They elevate the
tradition of men to, well, I'd say even par, but maybe more.
More than the Word of God. But the foundation of a believer
is in the Word of God, who cannot lie. His Word is sure. My Word shall not. The heavens
and earth shall pass away, but the Word of the Lord shall stand
forever. It's easier for the heavens and
earth to pass away than to want God to pass away from the law. Well, my soul doth wait for the
Lord more than they that watch for the morning. Well, I came
to the Lord. I wait for the Lord. Is that it? Oh, no. I continue to wait. You see,
I wait for the Lord, and I continue to wait. I believe in the Lord,
and I continue to believe. But I notice here in verse 6
that it is talking about a watchman. A watchman. A watchman, the idea
is of a city that's surrounded by a wall, and they put watchmen
on the towers, because enemies come in the night. The Lord said,
watch. Wait. Be in prayer. Because Satan is
like a lion ready to devour. And we wait for the morning. When is that morning? The morning
of the glorious return of the Lord. That is, whether he takes
us in death or when he comes the second time to bring all
his church to himself. But that's the glorious awakening.
The morning, I'll wait. But the idea is more than they
to watch for the morning. I was in the Navy and that was,
I tell you what, that midnight watch, that four to, sometimes
it was like midnight to six. Oh, it was so hard. You don't
dare fall asleep on that watch. That's when they're going to
attack. And that's when, when men sleep, that's when the enemies
come in. More than they did watch for
the morning. Now look at verse 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
Now, let all Israel. He's like, let's all. I believe, I'll wait for the
Lord. Let us all wait for the Lord. Let's all hope in the Lord
for, with the Lord there's mercy. There is mercy. You've experienced
the mercy of the Lord. Keep hoping. There is mercy.
There is mercy with him. And look, I love this right here.
mercy with him is plenteous redemption. Plenteous redemption. There's
nothing lacking to the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who God has made into us wisdom.
How much wisdom? The wisdom of God. Righteousness. How much righteousness? Dressed
in his righteousness, I'm just as righteous as he is. Accepted
in the beloved. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification.
Holy. There's plenty of redemption. Not just a little bit. Plenty
of redemption. You know, when the Lord Jesus
Christ, he's the Savior of sinners, he shall save his people from
sin. How many sins? All their sins. That's a blessed
thought. If you had to pay for one sin,
if I had to pay for one sin, we'd be separated from God for
eternity. That is what sin is. Well, men
think of sin as little sin or big sin, but that's no such thing.
All sin is committed against holy God, infinite holiness,
and therefore it's an infinite transgression, and it requires
an infinite payment. And that's why God is never satisfied
with the death of the wicked. That is to say, His justice never
cries, I have enough. I never have enough for that
payment, for that one sin. Let's just talk one sin, not
to say that the multitude of sins, of my sins. So God never
cries, I have enough. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. Why? Because God's
satisfied. God's satisfied. He put away
the sins of his people. His precious blood, sufficient
value to put away the sins of ten million worlds, if it were
God's purpose to do so. But he came to die for his people.
He came to pay the debt for all their sins. That's a blessed
assurance. That's a blessed hope. I'm glad
he didn't start something he didn't know how to finish. I
started many projects, and halfway through the project, I think,
I can't finish it. I just don't have the ability
to do so. I didn't know it was going to cost me that much. But
you can't say that of God. He knew exactly what he was coming
for, and he paid the sin debt. And he shall redeem Israel from
all, all his iniquities, all of God's people. Not one of them
will be lost. Well, keep waiting. Keep hoping. Keep trusting. Keep looking to
the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless his work. It looks like there's a few seconds. you