Great thing would happen. Turn with me over to Isaiah chapter
sixty two. Isaiah chapter sixty two. Every time I preach. I long to see the spirit of God
move. upon the face of this water's
here, and the Word of God speak, just as He did in the first creation. I long to see Him do that in
a regenerating sense. I long for God to bless me. It won't come out very well if
God doesn't bless me, if the Holy Spirit does not touch me
with the Word. Generally, it doesn't come out
in a very forceful or effective or persuasive
way, but I know that's not where the power lies. It lies in the
Word of God. Nevertheless, I long for that. I don't prepare messages. I have
prepared many a sermon with the thoughts that I've got a message
prepared. But then there are times when
I want God to speak, every time. I want him to speak in spite
of me, and I long to see something happen in our midst. I long to
see people convicted of sin. how long to see people filled
with thanksgiving and praise and people firmly persuaded in
their heart and their mind of Christ, their relationship with
Him. I've been especially lately, been especially thinking of our
young people. As I see our young people growing
older, I've become more and more concerned for them. I realize
that they may It won't be long before they move away, and perhaps they'll be like Clesestes
12, where they become older and they have no pleasure in these
things that they first heard as young people. I get more and
more concerned the older our children become. And I don't want one person in
here. I don't want to lose one person
in here. I don't want one person in here to be unbelieving and
to have it said in that day, I don't know you, depart. Whether
you be a member here, whether you be a full-time member here
or a part-time visitor, I don't want to lose a one. But I know this, I'm realistic.
I know that some shall depart. Some of our children will. They shall depart. I know this for a fact. John
said they will go out from us because they were not of us. If they had remained with us,
they no doubt would have remained with us if they had been of us,
but they went out from us. Paul said some would give heed
to seducing spirits or preachers or people or things and would
fall away, depart from the faith. Paul said of Demas, he said,
Demas hath forsaken me. He loved this world more than
Christ. That's going to happen to some. Scripture says some love self
and love pleasures more than they love God, so they'll leave. They won't hang around or stay. I'm a realist. I know these things
are going to happen. I know various people. I don't
know who. I know it takes the Spirit of
God. I know it takes the Spirit of God to awaken, to create an
interest in people. I know it takes the Spirit of
God to create an interest. I know that. Nobody knows that
more than I do. And nobody knew that more than
Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel, but boy, they pleaded with men,
didn't they? Didn't they? Nobody knew and experienced a
sovereign God any more than Isaiah did, but he pleaded with men,
didn't he? Nobody knew the sovereign God
like Jesus Christ, but he wept over people, didn't he? And I know it takes the Spirit
of God to create an interest in people, whether they be young
or old. But for the life of me, speaking
as a man, for the life of me, After all the blessings of God
that he pours out upon us, clear blessings, after all of the messages
of the gospel that have been preached so powerfully, so clearly,
for the life of me, I can't understand why anybody would go away unbelieving,
young or old. For the life of me, I can't understand.
I know it takes the Spirit of God. We're not nobody's going to blame
the Spirit of God for their unbelief. God's goodness to each of us. I is not a person in here that
I could not point out innumerable blessings in your own life. Houses and lands and automobiles
and food and clothing and jobs and money and children and just
Not a person in here who has not experienced innumerable blessings
from the hands of God, who just freely gives them, just freely
gives them. Not a person in here. There's
not a person in here this morning who has not heard this gospel,
this word of God proclaimed in absolute heavenly power and authority,
like the world hasn't heard it. like this. You've heard it here. And yet some are unmoved and
moved. Some remain unbelieving. Some who are supposed to be mature
and solid rock solid firm strong believers are weak and sickly. Immature up and down, spiritually
poor and destitute. But, as Paul said, it's not as though
the Word of God had taken no effect. There are some people
that the Word of God has powerfully dealt with, has changed their
lives, had revealed to their hearts and their minds and their
their affection, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, where
they are firmly persuaded with the Apostle Paul, believe just
as strongly with the Apostle Paul, and can say, I know whom
I have believed. There are some people like that
in here. And so the Word of God is not
as though the Word of God had taken no effect, but They are not all Israel which
are of Israel. I have to remember that in preaching,
that they're not all of Israel. They are not all believers who
say they are believers, and they're not all really interested who
appear to be interested. And that's what concerns me. I might as well hang up my little
uniform here. and quit this job, if that did
not concern me. Right? If I'm just getting up
on Sunday morning, because it's Sunday morning, and because we've
got to hear a little sermon, and just getting 45 minutes out
of the way, you find yourself another preacher. But if I'm asking the Lord, Show us something. Spirit of
God, ready silently now, I wait for Thee. Ready, my God, Thy
will to see. This is the will of God. You
know what the will of God is? You want to know what the will
of God is? This is the will of God. All
of it. Spirit of God, illumine me. And
this is what makes my preaching, or should make my preaching,
more and more urgent and vehement. Like I said, I ought to get more
and more urgent with every message. More and more plain. Right? If I'm worth my salt, if I've
lost my salt, I'm no good for anything but to be cast out and
trodden underfoot. Good sermon, preacher. See you
next Sunday." That's what it is to trot underfoot. What did
I preach on? I don't know. It doesn't matter.
He didn't tell us anything. Old Brother Scott used to say,
I'm going to quit preaching now. I'm going to tell you something. That's what I long for every
time, really. I'm going to tell you something.
I'm going to tell you something from God's Word here. Something
that will really help you, okay? Look here at Isaiah 62, verses
6 and 7. It helped me. I hope it will
help me. At least I see it in my eyes
and in my head. I know it in my head. I hope
it takes root in my heart. Isaiah 62, 6 and 7, he said unto
the preacher, Yes, the preacher, I have set you a watchman over
the walls. A preacher, a pastor more specifically,
is called a watchman. His duty is to watch over the
flock, to warn about the wolves, incoming wolves, to observe and
discern the faces and the needs of the people, to observe and
discern leanness when he sees it, lethargy when he sees it. If I did not become concerned
when I look into your face as I'm preaching the glorious word
of God and you're unmoved and undisturbed by it, I should be
disturbed. I'd be a pitiful man, a pitiful
preacher or pastor if that did not happen. If I looked into
the faces of unconcerned people and I was not concerned, wouldn't
I? Wouldn't a parent make a mighty
poor parent if they saw their child diminishing in various
ways and did not was unconcerned, went upon their merry way, and called a watchman, not only
to watch for incoming danger, but to see it in the faces of
the people. Right? He said here in verse 7, or verse
6, he said, I have set you a watchman upon the walls of Jerusalem,
which shall never hold their peace, day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord
keep not silence." Do you have a marginal reference? Does it
say they're called the Lord's Remembrances? That's hard to
say. The Lord's Remembrances. Make mention of the Lord, he
says. Constantly extol and honor and glorify and declare the glory
of the Lord. Hold him up. If Christ be lifted
up, he'll draw all men, draw his sheep anyway, to him. And so you extol, he says to
the watchman, you extol, you honor, you glorify, you preach,
you exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether anybody believes it or
not, hold him up. Somebody will believe. Somebody
will. not as many believe as you want
to, yet be a mighty poor preacher indeed
if he didn't want everybody to believe it. Right? Am I going to be happy
if Stan believes and knows and loves Christ and Sherry misses
him? Would that make me happy? Well,
one out of two ain't bad. See, I'm betting five hundred.
No way. I will rejoice overstand it. Grieve, grieve over Sherry. Right? I'm just using that as
an example. Great reason to believe. Both
of them know Him. But you want everybody to believe. I want your children to believe. And now look over at Isaiah 63.
And we'll dwell here. Isaiah 63 beginning with verse 7. All
right? I'm called the Lord's Remembrancer.
And he says, You make mention. You make mention. Every time
you stand up. Verse 7, he says, Mention the
lovingkindness of the Lord. He said over in Romans chapter
2, he said, O man, do you despise the goodness of God, knowing
not that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Forbearance
of God, the goodness of God. How could anybody remain hard
and unmoved and unbelieving about a God who showers us with blessings? Huh? Anybody, young or old, how
could a young person not see that they have everything that
the heart could desire? Because of what? The goodness
of God. Right? The loving, the kindnesses,
the grace of our God. Grace! That's what this word
is. It's an Old Testament word for grace. Free grace! We preach around here, free grace. The Bible preaches free grace. It's not a grace that's an offer
that men improve upon that God just throws it out there like
a, you know, Lost and found table, whoever comes along and finds
it, you know, they can have it. That ain't grace. The grace that
Bible preaches and we preach and teach and believe here is
that God actually does something to people. He freely, actually
pours out grace upon people, bestows it upon them. and all that the Lord God has
bestowed upon us, all that he's bestowed upon us. I don't care
how bad your problems are, people. Really. Would you listen to me
a minute? I don't care how bad your problems
are. I don't care if you're lonely. I don't care if your car is about
to break down. Be glad you're alive for one
thing. You may not have a husband or
a wife or You know, a lot of friends or whatever, and we'll
get to that in a little bit. If your house is breaking down,
be glad you've got a house. A lot of people don't have a
house. A car is breaking down, just get your second one out. Whatever it may be, problems,
financial problems, be glad you've got bills to pay. It means you own something that
you're paying on, right? Just keep on going with our problems
and think about the blessings of God in light of those problems. I don't care how bad we think
we've got it. It ain't bad at all compared
to the goodness of God. Not at all. I mean, it could
be so much work when he could give us exactly what we deserve,
right? Why should God do anything for
us? Why should God do anything for us? So make mention, he says, of
the lovingkindness of the Lord. And look at this, the praises
of the Lord. Everything we have, we have by the grace of God.
We are what we are. We know what we know. We can
do what we can do. We have what we have, all by
the grace of God Almighty. It is God that maketh us to differ.
The fact that Steve Park's sitting there is clothed has a wife and
children and no real problems, same problems every other man
with those things has, bills and so forth. But the fact that
he's sitting there and not in Africa right now watching little
Joseph Aaron starve to death in front of his eyes, which would
be the absolutely most gut-wrenching thing a man could think of, to
watch his child die in front of his eyes. is the grace of
God Almighty. And the same thing holds true
for every other man like him, me included. So what should be
my reaction? Thank God. I ought to be praising
him. We're going to meet together
and praise God. I'll be there. I've got a lot to praise See that? I'll mention the loving
kindness of the Lord and the praises, the reason we ought
to be praising him. Why are we here this morning? It's time
to go to church. Crap on that talk. It's time to worship God. Good! I've got a lot to worship him
for. We're going to sing a song. Great! I can sing According to, look at verse 70,
keep pouring it on us, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed
upon us, the great goodness, great goodness toward the house
of Central," says Israel. Ah, Central. Central. "...which he hath bestowed
upon them." Why? Because they're good folk. because
he found them just following the Lord and seeking the Lord?
No! His mercies! He found them a
bunch of Arminian idol-worshippers like everybody else and saved
them by His mercy, according to the multitude of His lovingkind.
Brought them in, called them out of the herd, called them
by His mercy and His grace and His love. Brought them in, sat
them down. They were wild. They were lunatics
like the demoniacs. religious lunatics like so many
other people, believing, falling for everything that comes along,
under the captivity of the devil himself. And he brought them
in, healed them, clothed them, sat them down in their right
minds, the mind of Christ, clothed them, sat them at the feet of
Christ, sitting there rejoicing in the gospel. It's time to sing
a hymn. Good. I can sing. He said this, verse 8, look at
what he says about it, "'Surely they are my people.'" They are
my people. Oh, why would God Almighty say
that about me? Why? Because of surety. Because
of surety. Surely? Why surely? Ain't nothing
sure about me. Well, it is about Christ. Surely
because of our surety." He says, they're my people. We're going
to find out in a minute. They sure don't act like it most
of the time. But he says it. Why am I saved?
Because God said so. Not because I'm faithful. Not
because I'm a Christian. Not because I'm a preacher. Why
am I saved? Because it's God that justifies. Because God said so. Because
Christ died. Only reason. Surely, he said,
they're my people. And look at what he says. Is
there a tinge, a twinge of sarcasm here? Children that will not
lie. Would they? No, not my people. No, surely
they won't lie. It's like my little daughter
there. You know, she seems so sweet. And so, you know, parents
are like that about their children, aren't they? They think that
children do no wrong. Everybody else's are little devils,
but not their own. Now, surely she would never lie
or do anything to shame her daddy. Not my Hannah! Don't you believe that for a
minute. God says, surely they're my people, people that won't
lie, people that are—they're not men and women full of guile. They're not here on Sunday morning
as hypocrites because they're supposed to. No, surely not. There's no hypocrisy in them.
There's no insincerity in them. Surely not. They worship God
in the Spirit. They're rejoicing in Christ Jesus.
Aren't they? Well, he says so that he was
their Savior. He was their Savior. Verse 9,
how was he their Savior? Well, in all their affliction
he was afflicted. What a marvelous gospel passage
this is, isn't it? In all their affliction he was
afflicted. Or in other words, everything
we had come unto us, Christ took it. He took it. All the punishment,
all the wrath, all the anger of God Almighty against our sin,
iniquities, and rebellions, he took it. He was afflicted. The
angel of his presence saved them. The fact that God sent his Son
down here, the angel of his presence. Christ said, Because I live.
Because Christ came and lived, you live. Not because God had
pity on you, really. Not because there's nothing pitiable
about you, There's nothing in you that God ought to have pity
on you. There's a lot in you that God ought to be angry with
you about, shouldn't He? Huh? And what I say to John Davis,
I say to Paul Mahan, there's nothing pitiable about me. There's
nothing in me that God ought to have pity on me. Well, I'm
just so poor. Big deal! The whole world is full of poor,
pitiful people, aren't they? Oh, we like sheep have gone our
own way, the Scripture says. We've turned our faces from God,
turned away from God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, hate God, don't want God by nature. God shouldn't have
pity on anybody. Why anybody should get upset
over sovereign mercy and grace? They don't understand, do they?
They just don't understand that God shouldn't have pity or mercy
or grace on anybody. But Christ said, because I live.
Christ came down here as a man, and God looked upon the only
man. It's the only man that ever said this out. How many billions
of people have lived on the earth? How many billions? Trillions? What's the next numerical number? Zillions? How many? One man it
was said of. God said, now I approve of that
man. Who was it? Noah? Oh no, he got
drunk and laid in his tent naked and had a lot. Go on, keep naming them. Abraham? He was an idol worshipper. That guy was a pagan. A 75-year-old man should have
been kicked in the hail a long time ago. Paul? Oh, let Paul tell you about it.
Oh, he said, I was blasphemous, injurious. Anybody? Jesus Christ, only one. Loved
God with all his heart, all his mind, soul, strength. Had no
other God, no other interest besides God. Loved his neighbor
as himself. Laid down his life for an enemy. An enemy. A stranger. Kept the
Sabbath perfectly. Didn't steal, lie, cheat, covet. Never even thought about it.
God looked down and said, there's a good man. Oh, I love that man,
didn't he? Oh, God couldn't even control
himself, could he? From heaven twice he said, my
beloved son, what a lovely man. Lovely, I love this man. He's
holy. God loves holiness, doesn't he?
There ain't no such thing as God loving a sinner. Come on now, they say God loves
a sinner and hates his sin. No, he doesn't. Find that in
Scripture. Would you? The righteous Lord
loveth what? Righteousness. The only sinners
he loves are those who are made righteous by the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, he loved that man. And
he said, oh, there's a man I can have, I can approve, I can accept.
He deserves everything. He deserves my praise, my love,
my acceptance. I'll pour out every blessing,
anything he wants, he deserves. And Christ said, don't give it to me. Give it
to these sinners. You're chosen. Give it to them.
And give me what they've earned. these no-good, rotten, rebel
sinners. Give me what they've earned.
Hell!" So he took it on himself, and God looked at his son and
said, There's Henry's sword. Rotten. No-good. God-hating. Am I telling it like
it is, Brother Henry? They say Henry's not like that.
Ask him. Are you? There he is. You deserve to die. That's the
reason Christ hung on that cross for six hours, excruciating pain,
separated from God, and for three days was kicked out somewhere
into eternity. That's what we deserve. And what
do we get? God looks on us with favor and
love and acceptance and pleasing. What is that? Is that mercy or
what? Huh? That's because His presence saved
us. Huh? His presence saved us. Christ said, Because I live!
You're going to live. Henry, you don't have to die.
You don't have to go to hell. Why? Been a good boy? Isn't that a spit in God's face? Huh? If righteousness come by
you being a good boy, Christ died in vain. What in the world
did God kill his son for? But you just heard why he killed
his son, because that's what you and I deserve, right? That's
why. And for everybody for whom Christ
paid that price, everybody for whom he died is accepted, holy,
righteous, saved through all eternity. And that's the reason
they're going to be singing of Christ. That's the reason they
sing now of Christ. They realize that. Anybody who
doesn't realize that ain't saved. His presence saved them. Right
there is a whole message, isn't it? His presence saved them.
The fact that Christ came saved them. And in love, look at this,
in love, verse 9, and in his pity he redeemed them, and he
bared them, and carried them. All the days of old. You've heard that, you've seen
that little silly little... Oh, it's meant, it's so, so clever. Ain't a word of truth in it.
two sets of footprints walking along, you know, and all of a
sudden, there's one set of footprints. And the fellow asks the Lord,
Lord, why, you know, you were, looks like you were walking along
with me there for a while, and then when I got in trouble, I
just found one set of footprints. And the Lord, so to speak, says
to the man, it's because, well, when you got in trouble, I carried
you. I picked you up. That was my set of footprints.
Ain't a word of truth to that. There ain't never been but one
set of footprints. His. Isn't that what Isaiah 63,
9 says? He buried them and carried them
all the days, from cradle to grave, from grave to glory. He carried them all the way.
Why? Oh, we like sheep going astray.
And the good shepherd leaves the nine and nine, goes out in
the wilderness and puts the other woman on his shoulder and takes
them all the way back. What does he do, set them down
again? No, they go right back with him again. Carries them
all the way, all the way. Carried us from the cradle to
the grave, from the grave to glory. Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless His holy
name. Forget not all His benediction.
Forget not all His mercy and grace. Now, how could I ever
be cold and unfeeling about worshiping God? How could I ever become
unmoved or unfeeling about my great God and Savior for all
this goodness? How could I? How could I not
present my body a living sacrifice unto Him and serve Him with every
fiber of my being? Love so amazing, so divine, demands
my life, my soul, my all." Strumpticeau said that. How could I not present my body
a living sacrifice? Is anything too much? Look at verse ten. This ought to make us weep. I
mean, really. But they rebelled and vexed His
Holy Spirit, it says. Sin is not a light matter. It's
the vexation of God's Holy Spirit. It's spitting in God's face.
I said this once before. You know Christ had to die and
pay for every one of our sins? Every one. Right? If there's one sin unpaid for,
and you're unsaved the day you die there's one thing what what
about if you he doesn't repent of that he's dead he's he's a
goner he doesn't repent. No that's not it if there's one
sin unpaid for by the blood of Christ then you're unsaved you're
going to be unsaved for eternity. That means not only my past sins
the sins I have committed the sins I am committing right now
but my future sin those sins I'm going to commit Christ had
to pay for those two. So, in essence, you know what
that's doing, Sam? You know what that, when I sin
in the future, you know what I'm doing? Adding to the affliction
of Christ. Adding to it. If there were, logically, if
it only could have only taken four hours on the cross, to pay
for all the sins of all these people, four hours. You follow
my logic here? Because that's all the sins that
need to be paid for. That's all it took in the mind,
the wisdom, and the eternal decree of God Almighty to pay for every
one of those sins, the time it took, the pain, the separation,
whatever, that mystery, four hours, because that's all the
sins there were. But there were six hours. There
was more. As far as I'm concerned, my future
sins add to the pain and suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? He says, but they rebelled. They
rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit. This is just like a grieved parent. It says, and he turned, look
at it, verse 10. It says, he turned to be their
enemy, so they thought. He appeared to be their enemy.
There's times when I get mad I get mad at my daughter. And
she knows it. And she feels it. And she doesn't
like it. And I don't want her to like
it. Or it wouldn't be what I'm intending to do. I'm intending
to let her know I'm displeased. Right? Same thing with God Almighty. Same thing. He was turned to
be their enemy. When she rebels against me or
makes me, in a sense, there's a sense in which I'm not her
friend at the moment. Really? As far as she's concerned,
I'm her judge. And look at what we say. Look
at what we say. Then we get down to verse 15. Oh, Lord, look down from heaven.
look down from heaven, would you please? Where are your bowels
of mercy toward me?" Verse 15, are they restrained? They ought
to be. Verse 16, Oh, you're my Father,
you're my Father, my Redeemer. Thy name is from everlasting. And they get so confused. Look
at verse 17. They even blame God's sovereignty
for their problems. Lord, why have you made us to
err from your ways? You see that? Lord, you're sovereign. I wouldn't have sinned if you
wouldn't have allowed it. You hadn't thought that way ever,
surely. Huh? Anybody ever thought that? Lord,
you're sovereign. You could have kept me from doing
that. Why have you made us to err? You haven't thought that, surely?
Yes, you have. Return, would you return, please,
for thy servant's sake? For Christ's sake, would you
help me out of this mess? What's the problem? What was
the problem? What's the problem here? Has God left off being merciful?
Sometimes when you think he has, he ought to, shouldn't he? He ought to. As God left off
being merciful, has God forsaken his people? And they get down
like, has he forsaken them? He ought to. Right now, he ought to forsake
them. I'm looking at their faces right now. They just don't care.
They just don't seem to care. He ought to, shouldn't he? Thank
God he says, I'll never leave them or forsake them. Never.
Look at verses 6 and 7 now, in chapter 64. Chapter 64, verses
6 and 7. We're an unclean thing. Our righteousness
is a filthy rag. We all do fate as a leaf, ready
to fly away. Why? Our iniquities, like the
wind, taking us away. There's none that calleth upon
thy name. None! Can anybody in here say,
and you're praying without ceasing, you're calling on the name of
the Lord, that stirreth up himself to take hold of God? Anybody!
you. What's the problem? Verse seventy says, He's hid
his face from us and has consumed us because of our iniquities. He hid his face from all the
blessings of God, all the enjoyments of God, whether it be peace,
whether it be contentment, whether it be love, whether it be happiness,
whether it be enjoyment, whatever it is, all the blessings of God
come from the presence of God. That's what hell is. Hell is
being without the presence of God. No one will experience any
goodness, any mercy, any grace, any love, not a kind word, not
a good look, not a smile, not a pleasant word, not one moment's
of pleasure, nothing. God's gone. And so it's just
eternal agony. The worm dieth not, this worm
of fear and paranoia. and hatred and jealousy and envy
and covetousness and lust and worms that gnaw at you. Trouble, yes. Springer, you'll
never die. No fulfillment. Somebody said
that hell is the awakening of the Holy Spirit of God too late. The awakening of God's Holy Spirit
too late. In other words, every man and
woman is going to be awakened to see themselves, to see what
God is and His goodness and what it's all about, to know God and
to be in the love and the kindness and the mercy of God, but no
fulfillment of that, no relief for that, no possibility of being
saved. Hell is the eternal awakening
of the Holy Spirit of God, to see truth. See self. See God. See the meaning of happiness. See the meaning of holiness.
See the meaning of exceeding sinfulness of sin. Well, remember, though, He says
his face is hid because of our iniquities. Remember this, though,
in the beginning, it was because of our sins and iniquity that
Christ set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem. Realizing,
for the joy that set before, realizing, Christ said, I'm not
going to lose Nancy She's not going to perish forever from
the presence of God and experience that eternal, undying worm and
agony beyond description. She's not going to do it. God's
not going to hide his face from her. He's going to smile on her.
Ain't nothing about her worth smiling on, but he's going to.
Why? Because Christ set his face toward Jerusalem, toward the
cross. Because Christ hid not his face from the shame and the
spitting, which we deserve, right? God ought to slap us in the face,
you ungrateful wretch, and spit in our face, shouldn't it? But
he didn't. Why? Because Christ hid not his
face from the shame and the spitting, the scripture said. God Almighty hauled off, busted
him in the face. Made him unrecognizable. You
know what the hand of God does in wrath against a sinner? Seek
Christ on the cross. A man unrecognizable. Says his
visage was marred more than any man. That's the hand of God's
wrath against the face of a man which we deserve. You infinite,
you know we got infinites written all over our faces. Don't we
have proud look written all over our faces? What should happen?
You ever feel like doing that to your Proud little teenagers
or kids, huh? That show up. That's what God
ought to do to us, shouldn't it, huh? Oh, you got to come. Christ took it instead. That's mercy, isn't it? Oh, my
goodness. Because he hid not his face,
God won't hide his. But as believers, now listen
to me. I've already taken too long,
but would you bear with me a minute? Would you gather yourself a minute?
This is going to help you. You need this. I know you need
it. I know every person in here needs it, and that one person,
including this pastor, who doesn't need every word I'm going to
say to you from this point on. Sometimes when God hides his
face from us because of our iniquities, shouldn't he? And we cry out
and say, where is it? He's hiding. Why? Well, listen
up. Listen up. He said, your sins
and iniquities have hid his face from us. Sin, more than anything,
is unbelief. More than anything, the root
of all sin is unbelief. You know what that means? That
means that God says something in this book concerning every
single point in faith in your life. Every aspect of your life
is dealt with from this book. And any time we sin against God
in any way, what we're saying is we're disregarding what God
says. Unbelief. Unbelief. Here's what the Lord says to
those who do not know Christ in here this morning. The Lord says, Seek my face.
Seek ye my face, and I'll be found. Do you? Have you? Well then, God says, You're not
going to seek my face? I'm going to hide it. Right? I'm going to hide it.
I'm going to hide it. It's times
when the Lord manifests himself in here in the preaching of the
gospel in such a powerful way. You've been in on it. I've been
in on it. Not just here, but other places where he manifests
his glory, his personal presence in such a way that you just can't
deny the fact that God's been in this place. But some, like
Jacob, said, surely the Lord was in this place, and I didn't
know it. Why? He said, seek my face, and you
haven't done it, so he hid his face. Right? What gives us the impotence and
the... What makes us think that God's
going to give us a tomorrow to seek his faith? Huh? What makes
us think that God's going to wait around on that? Huh? Isn't that despising? Isn't that
not seeking his faith? What makes us think that he's
going to give us tomorrow to seek his faith? He says today.
Didn't he? Today. The Lord says, And I'll
hear you call upon me. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Do you? Have you? Well then, well then, he just hides his
face. He'll stop up his ears. It's
coming a time, Proverbs 1 says, that they're going to call. And
there ain't no possibility of God ever hearing them. It's more serious than I thought.
You know, isn't every word of God more serious than we think? The Scripture says, Forsake not
the assembling of yourselves together, as a matter of some
is. And it goes on to say there in
Hebrews 10, because then they'll go down where they cast unto
foot the Son of God, and he said it's better that they never heard
of it. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, do you? Then I tell you what, then he'll
hide his face from you in private. You won't experience his presence
in private. If you refuse to meet with his
people in public, he won't be with you in private. I'm telling you something here.
I'm telling you the truth here from God's word. Don't expect
God to bless you and to speak to you from his word in private.
If we just say, when he is saying, forsake not this inward, and
we don't do it. Christ said, feed my lambs, feed
my lambs. If we don't, if we don't, then
he won't feed us spiritually. It's so. He said, build up one
another on your most holy faith. Build up one another. How do
you build up one another? I am built up by the fact that
you're here this morning, That encourages me. Does it encourage
you? You know what I'm saying, don't
you? Joe, you know what I'm saying, don't you? Sure you do. We're
building up one another. Every presence, every person
in here is building up. The fact that you're here this
morning means, I want this place to survive. We need this place. That's what everybody says when
they come here, or should be anyway. We need this gospel.
It's so hard to find. I need it. I'm here. I'm supporting
it. I'm going to be here when the
doors are open. Every available opportunity for
me, I'm going to be here. Why? I need it. I want it. And I'm going to support it.
That builds me up. Hey, John wants to hear you then.
I'm going to study a little harder. Our people are coming up. I'll
spend another hour. Right? I'll go ten minutes over. But if not, then he that gathereth
not with us," what? What does Christ say? "...he
that gathereth not with us," what? "...scattereth abroad."
Do you ever wonder, well, so-and-so's not here. What's wrong? What's
wrong? Huh? Does it not kind of tear
you down a little bit? Oh, it tears me down. He said,
Be given to hospitality. Listen, here's the word of God.
Be given to hospitality. Be careful. Full of care to entertain
strangers. If not, you ain't going to have
no angels in your house. We've got one coming into town.
You're not going to entertain him. You're not going to. You're
going to miss an angel. You're going to miss an angel. Oh, wasn't
it good when Lot said, And Lot said, y'all know, y'all
come in and stay with me tonight. What if he hadn't? Oh, you say,
well, God's sovereign enough. God purposed and willed it all.
Yes, He did, but He did it and He purposed and willed it by
Lot saying, come in. Call it on them. Y'all come in
and stay with me. He'll not send the angel of his
presence. Scripture says, For a man to
have friends, he must show himself friendly. Right? If you don't, you're not going
to have any friends. God says, I'm not going to send
any friends. Right? Is this not God hiding
his face from us? Why? Our sins and our iniquity.
He says, show yourself friendly. Open your house that I gave you.
Assemble yourselves together. You've got reason to. You've
got cause to. Do it! I'll bless you. I'll pour
out the wings of heaven upon you. Joy unspeakable! Oh, Lord, I'm busy. Your sins
and iniquities. Then I'm going to hide my face
from you. Now, we're not talking about it in a damning way here,
are we? I'm talking to believers. Christ says, trust me. Now, here
I'm talking about a saving way. Trust me. Christ says, trust
me. Trust me. I'm God, and there's
none else. I'm God. What does that mean? Has he been so long time preached
to us, and yet we don't know him? That means Joey rules. Ain't nothing that riles or wriggles,
but God doesn't order it. He did it from eternity past.
Why should I ever be upset about anything? I'm glad he remembers my friend. But the fact still remains, he's
God! And nothing happens but he doesn't
control it and direct it. for His glory, and you're good.
It ain't going to change it. It's going to be that way. He
says, Trust Me, and you'll have peace. Though your house be not
so with God, though your house fall down, burn down, or you—whatever! You get sick, you get—whatever! Trust Me! I'm God! You're not in control. Satan's
not in control. I'm by God, he says. I've undertaken to be by God.
You're my people. Trust me." Oh, but Lord, but... All right, then. Don't believe me? I'll hide my
face from you. And you'll be like a wave tossed
to and fro. Every little wind that comes
along, a trouble and trial that comes along, you'll be all alone. Right? Why? Because God said,
trust me, and we don't. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It
is. God says, believe me, believe
me, this is my word. It's infallible. All answers
you ever needed for any problem in your life is right here. Search
the scriptures. Study to show thyself to prove
that you may have a reason for the answer, the hope that lies
within you. Search and study it, do you? Then don't be surprised
if the Lord doesn't give us any answers, right? He hides his
face. This is the face of God. Like this, it's hidden. It's plum hidden. I'll never
see it. Never see it. It sounds so simple, doesn't
it? It is. It is. God says, Christ said, Forsake
all for my worship, my presence, and my salt presence. Christ said, Forsake your father,
your mother, your husband, your wife, yes, that darling child
of yours. Make provision somehow or another
for that child so you can come be with me. Forsake it all. Do you know what
he means when he says forsake all? Except the man or woman,
forsake all. You cannot be my disciple. So
what happens? When we say, no, this comes first,
what does he do? What does Christ do? Hides his
face. All right. All right. I'm going to leave you alone. I'm going to give you nothing
but trouble at the hands of that child, nothing but trouble at the hands
of that parent, nothing but trouble at the hands of that spouse,
nothing but trouble at the hands of that husband or wife, nothing
but trouble Right? Christ says, watch with me one
hour. One hour. One hour. And if we can't do that, then
what's he going to do? He's going to hide his body.
OK. I don't want to let you stay sleeping, he said. to stay that
way for a while until you get so down, so down that you don't
think you're ever going to be able to look up again. Christ says, Beware of the leaven
of self-righteousness. Beware. And we get lifted up
with pride. He says, All right, be prepared
to be humbled like you've never been humbled before. Christ says, seek my face. Seek
my face. And if we don't, then he'll hide his. Right? Wow. Our sins and our iniquities. I haven't even begun to list
the list, have I? I've touched on, I've hit the
high points. But every one of us in here are guilty of every
point that I've mentioned this morning. I just hit the high
point. We could sit down and analyze everything that we do.
Or don't do or ought to do the maladies, the sins that so easily
beset us. Each one of us know the particular.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear me. You know
what that means? You know what that means? That
doesn't mean that if you're a sinner, God won't hear you. No, that
means a believer. I need this message. Do you? God had his face. And there's no thing, nothing
more miserable. Nothing more miserable. He said
he vexed his Holy Spirit. You parents are, some of you
are going to experience, if you haven't already, a rebellious
child. A child that's going to grow
up and hurt you like you've never been hurt before. And it's going to be almost overwhelming.
I mean, it's going to, it's going to, it's going to Unless the Lord is merciful and
gracious to you, you're going to get so hurt, you don't think you'll ever recover
from it. Where does that feeling come from? Where does that feeling
of a parent for a child come from? You know, in the latter
days, people give their babies, people giving their children
away and so forth. And these days, the love of many,
even for their own children, is waxing cold. They're not experiencing
that. Where did it all come from in
the first place? God. He feels that way about his children.
Don't let's not think of God as some austere, so sovereign
he doesn't have any emotion or feeling. Huh? No, God's not like
that. You get your feeling from him. Yes, you do. You get your love
for your children from God. His love for his children is
infinitely greater than yours for your child. So how does he
feel when his children vex him? Scripture says, Grieve not the
Holy Spirit, doesn't it? You parents know something about
being grieved by your children? Grieve! It grieves you, doesn't
it? You weep! Christ wept. God walked this
earth as a man, and he wept. Looked at his little children
and said, Oh, you have little faith. When are you going to
grow up, he said. Isn't it? Isn't that what he
said? Read with me, in closing, Isaiah
54, would you? This might make this a little
more real to you now. Isaiah 54, read this with me. Isaiah 54, in closing. Jerry,
you come up and we'll sing a song here in a minute. Isaiah 54,
verse 7 and 8. This is what he says. For a small moment have I forsaken
thee, thank God. He ought to forsake us for eternity,
shouldn't he? But with great mercies will I gather thee. In
a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord
thy Redeemer. Well, you know, like I said,
I get angry at my child every now and then. She knows it. And
she deserves it. She deserves it. The goodness
we heap upon her is just unspeakable. I told her the other day, I said,
You don't realize how blessed you are to have been born in
the house that you've been born in. And you can say that to your
own children. I said, You don't realize. how
blessed you are to have a mama and daddy like you have, to have
a place where you can hear the gospel, to live in a little town. All the blessings of God, all
the food, the house you live in, you don't realize. And sometimes
she vexes me and sins against us and rebels against us, and
I get angry. And I should.