I want you young people to especially pay attention. If
you have a Bible, look at it. If you don't, look at your parents'
Bible, okay? All you young people, all of
you that are old enough to read. And there's no age limit beyond
that. Young at heart. I hope the Lord
will allow our young people this morning to hear this message. Read with me here in Proverbs
chapter 1, beginning with verse 1. Now listen carefully. This
is a man whom God said was the wisest man to walk the planet
beside the Lord himself, a man whom God gave more wisdom than
any other. Now listen. of Israel, to know wisdom and
instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive
the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity, to
give subtlety to the simple with to the young man knowledge and
discretion. A wise man will hear and will
increase learning. A man of understanding shall
attain unto wise counsels to understand the proverb and the
interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise
wisdom and instruction. My son, are you young people listening?
Are you reading this? My son, hear the instruction
of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they
shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about
thy neck restraining you." My son, my daughter, if sinners entice thee, and oh,
they will, consent thou not. If they say, come with us, Look at verse fourteen. Cast in thy lot among us. Verse fifteen. My son, my daughter, walk not thou in the way with
them. Refrain thy foot from their path. for their feet run to evil. Verse 17, Surely in vain the
net is spread right in the sight of the bird. Let me read something to you
from a book that has been greatly used by God over the years. This
book has been printed in more languages and read by more people
than any other book except the Bible itself. I'm speaking of
John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. And this is on the very first
page of the story. That story is the story of a
young man, a young family man, whom God deals with. whom God causes to look into
his word, and it convicts him. What God's word says convicts
him. And he begins to be troubled
about his relationship with God, about his sinfulness. And listen
to these words. This is the beginnings of that
man's journey. He's called the pilgrim. And
the whole book is about his progress toward the celestial city, salvation. Now, I saw upon a time when this
man was walking in the fields that he was, as he was wont to
do, reading in his book, reading the Bible. And he was greatly
distressed in his mind. And as he read it, he burst out,
as he had done many times before, crying, What shall I do to be
saved? I saw also that he looked this
way and that way as if he wanted to run, yet he stood still because
I perceived he could not tell which way to go. I looked then and saw a man named
Evangelist, a gospel preacher. coming to this man, who asked
the man, Why are you crying? And the man answered, Sir, I
perceive by this book in my hand that I am condemned to die, and
after that to come to judgment. And I find that I'm not willing
to die, I'm not ready to die, and I'm not able to stand in
the judgment. Then said the evangelist, Why
aren't you willing to die since this life is attended with so
many evils? The man answered, because I fear
that this burden that's upon my back his sin, he felt his
sin, a great weight of his sinfulness. He said, I fear that this burden
upon my back will sink me lower than the grave and I'll fall
into hell itself. And sir, if I'm not fit to go
to prison or hell, I'm not fit, I'm sure to go to judgment and
into execution. And these thoughts make me cry. Well, then said the evangelist,
well, if this is your condition, why are you standing here? Why
do you stand still? The man answered, because I don't
know where to go. Then the man gave him a parchment
roll, which was the gospel. And there
was written within these words, flee from the wrath to come. The man therefore read it. and
looked at the evangelist very carefully and said, Where must
I flee? Then said the evangelist, pointing
with his finger over a wide field, a very wide field, Do you see
yonder wicked gate? Do you see that door? Do you see that gate? The man
said, No, I don't. Well, he said, Do you see the
lights? Do you have any lights? He said, I think I do. Then said
the evangelist will keep that light, whatever light you have,
walk in it. In other words, keep that light
in your eye and go directly, go straight and you'll see the
gate. Which is Christ, Christ said,
I'm the door. And when you knock, it'll be
told you what to do. So I saw in my dream the man
began to run. And as he ran, the neighbors
came out to see him run. They watched him. And as he ran, some of them mocked
him. Were you running? Why, you can't run. Who do you
think you are? Some mocked him, some threatened
him, some cried after him, come on back. And he hadn't ran far from his
own door, but his wife and children even came out and they began
to cry after him to return. Honey, come back. But the man only put his fingers
in his ears as he ran. and cried out, lies, lies, eternal
lies. So he looked not behind him, but fled toward the gate. Do you know what that's talking
about? You young people, do you have any light? You may not see Christ now. You
may not see His beauty. You may not see your desperate
need of Him now. Do you have any light? Do you have any understanding?
Salvation is to flee for your life. Salvation is to run for your
life, to run from this hell-bound world. Because, listen to this, the
Scripture says, love not the world. Now, this is God's Word.
It's not this preacher. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man, young person, boy,
girl, love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
And all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, the pride of life—is not of the Father. It's of the
world, and the world passes away in the lust thereof. But he goes
on down there to say, but little children, you have an unction
from the Holy One. You're hearing a preacher this
morning tell you to flee from it. You have an option. I'm urging
you with all the sincerity I can muster that God will give me
this morning. Flee from this hell-bound world. I'm warning you on a nice, beautiful,
sunny spring morning. This is the time when most people
forget God. The days are beautiful, many
things to do. God takes second place, if he
ever had first. But Christ, I remember when Christ
said, at a time when you think not. That's the reason I barely
believe it's going to be a bright, beautiful, sunny spring morning,
when the economy's good, a little money in the bank. Is it well? Is all well? Here's the only thing that matters.
Is it well with your soul? Look at Genesis 19 with me. Genesis chapter 19. I'm warning
you. I'm warning me. Whatever I tell
you this morning, I want to heed the Word myself. I want to be warned to flee from
the wrath to come." This is not just a young person's conflict,
the world and all that's in it, the temptations of the world.
Not just a young person. Older people are just as beset. We read that in 1 Corinthians
10, verse 13, that there's no temptation that has taken you
but such as is common to man. Everybody in here is experiencing
the same pull and the same tug from this world. But I'm telling you by God's
Word, from God's Word, resist it. Flee from it. Now here at
Genesis 19, all believers, do you know that all true believers
are fleeers? They're runners. They're fleeing
from somewhere to somewhere. And I will say this. You can't
run, you can't flee from something unless you're going to something. Unless you arrive somewhere,
you've never actually left what you're running from. Abraham, Abraham was a man, a
man. Abraham was a man just like any
man in here. Rick, John, Mac, Steve, Ed, he's
just a man. He was nothing special. He was
brought up in an idolatrous land. And what does that mean? That
mean they were all bowing down before idols? Not necessarily. They
might have been good religious folks, akin to what you might
call a good Christian today, raised in religion, you know.
They weren't necessarily bowing down before a stone statue. They
were just idolaters. They weren't worshiping the true
and living God. And Abraham was born and raised there and continued
there for seventy-five years. He was seventy-five years old. But when God finally came to
him, through God's Word, God came to him and said, Abraham,
get out, get thee out from thy father's house and from thy kindred.
They're not worshiping God. Get out and go where you can
worship God. What did Abraham do, Terry? He
got out. And here in Genesis 19 we read
of another man named Lot. He was just a man. Look at verse
15. Lot was down in Sodom. Lot lived
in what would be very much akin to modern day Los Angeles or
San Francisco or Detroit, Michigan or Roanoke, Virginia for that
matter. A big thriving industrial city, cultural place, you know,
with all the temptations of the world, the partying, the nightlife,
the music, the drugs, the sex, just everything that comes with
being living in a big city, all the allurements of this life.
That's where Lot was living. That's where he had pitched his
tent. That's where he wanted to be.
And on Saturday night, that's where Lot was. But Lot was a chosen vessel. Thank God. Look at verse 15. Here's the story. And when the
morning arose, some angels came down to Lot and appeared to him. Do you know that I'm an angel
this morning? No, I'm not. You know what I'm
saying. I'm no angel or saint, but I'm
an angel. The Lord is appearing to you
with a message from the Lord. And I'm telling you the same
thing that this angel told Lot, Stephen. I'm talking to you,
Jennifer. I'm telling you the exact same
thing that the angels told Lot that day. They were come to get
him out of the city. We beseech you as though God
did beseech you by us. And when the morning arose, verse
fifteen, look at it, everybody, the angels hastened Lot, saying,
Arise, take your wife, your two daughters which are here, lest
they be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And Lot lingered.
Oh, I like it here. But the men laid hold on it.
This is salvation. While we linger, is salvation
the decision? No, salvation is being laid hold
on. lingered, the men laid hold on
his hand, upon the hand of his wife, upon the hand of his two
daughters. The Lord God lay hold on the hand of my one daughter.
The Lord God lay hold on the hand of my two sons. The Lord
God lay hold on the hand of my wife or my husband. The Lord
God lay hold on them, or they're going to linger and die with
the rest of them. And the Lord laid hold on them,
the Lord being merciful unto him, and they brought him forth.
and set him down without the city. And it came to pass, when
they had brought him forth abroad, that he said, the angel said
to Lot, Escape for your life. Run just as hard as you can run,
Lot, and don't look back." If you want to turn over to Genesis
39, Here's another story about another
man, Genesis 39, a man named Joseph. And oh, he was tempted,
Sammy, but he had the temptations of every young man. The same temptations. I'm telling
you, this world is, this world, and I don't want to be crude
here, I want to be subtle, but TV, the advertisements, this
world and everything in it, is being bombarded with and allured
with and taken and overrun with S-E-X. It's the greatest temptation
and allurement, and the Scriptures speak more about fornication,
as much as about fornication and concerning sin as anything,
because it's such a poison that gets in these bodies and it rules
it. Once someone dabbles in it and experiences it, it rules.
It overruns. Unless the Lord really gives
somebody deliverance from it, it rules. It reigns. It controls. It moves. It orders. It directs. And here in Genesis 39, this
young man named Joseph was confronted with this. Look at verse 7. After these things that his master's
wife, Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar, his master's
wife cast her eyes upon Joseph. Evidently he was a handsome young
man and she said, lie with me. Everybody in here knows what
they're saying. But he refused. and said unto his master's wife,
Behold, my master wadeth not what is with me in the house,
and he has committed all that he hath to my hand. He trusts
me, and there's none greater than this house than I, neither
hath he kept back. He's been so good to me, and
you're his wife. How can I do this great wickedness
and sin against God? And it came to pass that she
spoke to Joseph day by day." You think of the temptation of
this. Day by day, Stan, every day. Day by day, she said that to
him. And look at finally, verse 11. And it came to pass about
the time that Joseph went into the house to do his work, his
business, none of the men in the house were with him. She
caught him, grabbed hold on him, lie with me, and he left his
garment in her hand and fled. Flee for your life. Isn't this
the woman that Proverbs warms about so much? A woman. Oh, and the 20th century is no
more wicked than it was in the first or the second. You see,
Joseph had the same problem as any young man or older man, middle-aged
man. Middle-aged men go through these
crisis periods, you know, and have these great temptations. There hath no temptation taken
you which such as is common to man." Abraham, Lot, Joseph, go
on, Paul. But God is faithful, who will
not suffer you, or not, or that is those that ask him. To be
tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation,
now here's the good word, here's the good news, make a way of
escape. There's a way out. that you may be able to bear
it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved," and he goes on to say this, right
after that verse, Joe, he says, flee idolatry. Because idolatry is to love the
world and the things in it. There's nothing wrong, you young
people hear me carefully, there's nothing wrong with this world.
All right? There's nothing wrong with an
automobile. There's nothing wrong with a house. There's nothing wrong
with sex in the marriage relationship. As a matter of fact, it's a beautiful
thing. Marriage is honorable and all. The bed is undefiled.
But God condemns it. outside of marriage. That's a
whole other story there. But there's nothing wrong with
this world. Where the sin comes in is being
consumed with it. Where the idolatry comes in is
being so taken up with and pursuing after and setting your ambition
and your love upon this world so as to forget God. And coming in one day a week
or two at the most and giving God an hour of your time is not
discipleship. And you are an idolater. If you're
pursuing this world six days a week and then one day a week,
you give God an hour. That's idolatry. And God will
judge us for it. Well, are you? I hope somebody
in here is at the point where John Bunyan's pilgrim was, where
he said, well, where do I go? I want to go. I'm torn. The left
or right? You remember the story I read?
It said he was he wanted to run, but he looked this way and that
way. Didn't know where to run, how
to run, how, what, when, how, where, who? Tell me. And that great evangelist Joe
pointed him at a gate. He pointed it. How? Well, I want you to look
with me now at Psalm 143. Let's look at a man just like
you. A young man. Here's a young man,
a man who started out running as a boy. He was only 15 years
old, Stephen. David was 15 years old when he
went down there and slew that giant. He said, is there not
a cause? A 15-year-old boy can follow
God. Gay can't. He better. Right,
Terry? Fifteen, if you're old enough
to be responsible for your sin and your action, if you're old
enough to be responsible to go out and willfully sin and do
what you do, you're old enough to be held accountable for it. Right, Mom and Dad? David was 15 years old. A 15-year-old
boy or girl can follow Christ. You better believe it, David
did. But he was a boy with all the
temptations that you have. And he was a young man exposed
to the wicked world, a sinful man. And he fell into sin. He
fell greatly. David did. But he kept running. He got back up by God's grace,
and he kept running. And later on in life, he was
still running. He's the one that said, I'll not be satisfied until
after I die and I awake and I see that I'm like Christ. And until
then, like Paul said, Paul's an old man when he said, I'm
going to forget what's behind me. Yesterday's sin, my old cronies,
my old life, and I'm going to press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Life, life,
eternal life. And this is what this man says
here. He's going to tell you about his story, how he's running
this race. Look at it. Psalm 143, verse 1. Hear my prayer,
O Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Who's
he talking to? A preacher? Is he talking to the soul winners?
Is he talking to his buddies? Is he talking to his friends?
Is he talking to the world? Is he getting his advice from
the experts? Now, he's getting his advice from the expert on
that. Who's he talking to? Who's he
seeking his help from? The world? No, he's not seeking
his help from the world. They're in trouble just like
he is. As a matter of fact, they're the source of his trouble. Everything
in it, and he's in it. Look back at Psalm 141, verse
1. Lord, I cry unto thee. Make haste
unto me. Give ear unto my voice. When
I cry unto thee, look at Psalm 142, verse 1, I cried unto the
Lord with my voice. And there's nobody in here who
really wants to be delivered unless you've called on the Lord.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. How? How do you call on the name of
the Lord? My soul. This is what soul winners are
trying to instruct people to do, you know. You don't have
to tell a man who's really called, who sees his need of Christ,
how to call, do you think? Did Peter have to tell those
people at Pentecost what to say? Now repeat after me the sinner's
prayer. I'm a sinner, I'm a sinner. No, what'd they say? What must
we do? We're in a mess. Lord! Hear my prayer, O Lord!" He says, he goes on to say, "...in
thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness." Look at
that. Look carefully. "...in thy faithfulness answer
me, and in thy righteousness." Now why should God answer me? We talk to you young people.
Why in the world should God listen to you? Why should God answer
you? You know, there's coming a day,
it read in Proverbs 1, we didn't read it all, where it says that
there's going to be some people that are going to be calling
and screaming and crying and asking God to hear them. And
he says, I'm not going to hear them. There's coming a time when
God's going to put his fingers in his ear. You know that? That's frightening. Why should
God answer me? I live, say I'm 18 years old,
20, say I'm 50, say I'm 70 years old and I don't really believe Christ
yet or know Christ. I've lived 15 years, I've lived
12 years not giving God a thought, care less about God. God's fed
me, God's clothed me. God's done all these things for
me. God's given me life. God gives me everything that
I could possibly desire, and I don't give Him a thought. I've
considered a drudgery to come Sunday and thank God. You know,
that's what we're doing here. That's the only reason we're
met here. We're not here to go through religion. We've come
here because we're here to thank God, because of what God's done
for us. We can't help but come here and
praise God. We praise Him all every day of
the week, yes. But we come here to let our voices
be known collectively. Thank you, Lord, for what you've
done. Thank you for your mercy and your grace and your love
to us. Thank you, Lord. We're met here as a people, as
a church, a people to praise and thank our God. He's worthy.
Look at what He's done for me. And yet we go 12 years, 15 years,
50, 60 or 70 years without, you know, giving God much of a thought.
Why should He answer us? Then we get in trouble, and then
we holler, God help me! Why should He answer us, Rick? Why should He? And the scripture says there
are going to be many just like me. My old cronies. Joe, the very
buddies I hung out with drinking and crowding around. I was worse. I was the ringleader. The very
buddies of mine are going to be standing in the judgment day
facing the wrath of God. Why did they hear me? Why did I call and not them? The key is found in that verse.
Did you see it? In thy faithfulness answer me,
and in thy righteousness." Who's that talking about? Mine? Because
I'm faithful? I'm the son of a Baptist preacher? Because I'm not as bad as everybody?
No, Stephen, it wasn't that I wasn't just as bad as everybody. I just
didn't get caught. You know, I had the wool pulled
over Mom and Dad's eyes. I just didn't get caught. God was merciful and gracious
to my father in the gospel, keeping me from bringing reproach upon
the gospel. Because I don't do this or that,
I think it. I want to. Why does God hear
prayer? Why does God hear anybody? Listen
to this. 1 John 5, 13 says this. Listen, you don't have to turn,
just listen to me. These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that
you have eternal life, that you may believe in the name of the
Son of God, and that this is the confidence that we have in
Christ. That if we ask God anything according
to his will, he'll hear us. If we ask anything according
to his will, he'll hear us. What's that talking about, according
to the will of God? What's that talking about? John 6, Christ said this, this
is the will of him that sent me. that everyone that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." Now, what is it to believe on
the name of the Son of God? Believe on Jesus? Everybody in
here believes. The smallest child in here believes
there was a Jesus. That's not salvation. Is it to make a decision? No. Listen to the text again. Look
at it again. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give
ear to my supplications, in thy faithfulness answer me, and in
thy righteousness answer me. What is God's righteousness? Listen to this. Man is not justified,
accepted. God is no respecter of persons.
Why? Because there ain't nobody worth
respecting. Right? God's no respecter of persons.
Well, he's a good little boy. She's a good little—isn't she
a sweet little girl? God's no respecter of persons. They're
all worms in God's eyes. That's what the Scripture says.
Let's quit beating around the bush here. Man is not accepted by God, by
the works of the law, his morality—well, she's a good little girl—but
by faith. the faith of Jesus Christ or
his faithfulness, what somebody else did. Even we believed in Jesus Christ
that we might be justified. You see, Jesus Christ is the
only one that's ever been faithful to God. Even I, I'm the preacher,
right? Well, he's a man full of faith.
Don't you believe it for a minute. Don't you have any confidence
in his flesh? I'm up one day and down the next. I believe
one day and don't the next. So what's my hope? He about is
faithful. Christ was faithful as a man.
He came down as a man. And he did this, Kevin, he did
this for son, not just men and women, but for young people.
He came down here and lived a perfect life. Why? We have to. It's what
God requires of me. And if I don't do it, I'm going
to be judged for it. Well, I can't. He can. And that's why he came. And he lived this life, it's
called righteousness, to give it to some people. Who's he going
to give it to? Help me, O Lord, according to thy faithfulness
and thy righteousness. Who's he going to give it to?
Hold it, call for it. Not to just believe on Jesus,
not to make your silly little decision and they're gone on
down the road. The man, the woman, the young boy or girl who sees
their need of this righteousness. I'm a sinner. God's holy. How am I going to stand before
this holy God? I need a righteousness, right? More than a doctrine.
It's a standing before God. And my righteousness, the scripture
said, are filthy rags. Look it up in the Hebrew. Filthy, rotten, stinking rags. My good works, my morality, my
church going. I'm trying to be as... say this as kindly. How can you
say it kindly? That the best thing we've ever
done stinks before God. This religious world needs to
see that more than anything else, because there's a whole generation
of people going to hell, clinging to their morality. Mama this,
mama that, I this, I that. God's going to say, I don't care.
My son's the only one worth looking at and respecting. And you never
clung to and believed in and trusted in my son. You thought
your life was just as good as his. His name, His very name is prophesied. Jehovah Sidkenna, the Lord, our
righteousness. So in brief, who does God answer? Who does God hear? The man, the
woman, the young person who clings to Christ by faith, believes
that He's my only hope. He's my righteousness. Right? Look at verse 2. Don't enter
into judgment with me. He's praying to God. Don't enter
into judgment with me, for in your sight no man living will
be justified. Why is that? Psalm 24, read it
sometime. Who's going to stand before his
holy hill? Who's going to stand before this God? Well, he that
hath clean hands. Anybody in here who can say they've
never sinned, never, ever, one time, you're going to be able
to stand before God and say, look, I'm clean, I never sinned. Well, he that hath a pure heart, he never even thought about sinning. He that's never lifted up his
soul unto vanity. Margaret, you've lived all your
life for the glory of God, I'm sure, out of praise and honor
and thanksgiving to him. You've served, you've given your
body a sacrifice unto God, your reasonable service, have you?
You can stand before God if you say you can. Well, you've never sworn deceitfully. There's never been one word.
Ellen, you've lived a long time. Never one word of murmuring or
complaining or bitterness about your lot in life has ever come
out of your mouth, has it? Never, ever. Oh, you have? You can't stand before God. Who can? And that goes for young
people. You know there's nothing but
foolishness comes out of the mouth of a young person, the heart.
It says that the child foolishness is bound up in the heart of a
child. What can I do today? I want to play. And that goes
for 25 year old young people. 30, 45, keep going, 50. What
can I do today? I want to play. Isn't that idolatry? Didn't we just read that, Rick,
in 1 Corinthians 10? What about God? I never mind
him. I want to play. Well, who can lift up your hands?
He goes on to say, lift up your hands. You bow down, you cast
down, lift up your heads. Somebody's coming in. Somebody's
done this. A man. Who is he? Psalm 24 says, Who is this? Who's done such a thing? It's
the King of Glory. He's coming in. Look behind him.
There's a whole bunch of people following him. And they don't
want to out from behind him, do they? Joe, they don't want
to walk out of here. Let me sit here. Do they? They don't want
to stick their head over here. They're sneaking in behind him.
They're holding on to him. If I can get in, I'm going to
get in behind him, aren't I? They're not going to stand up
there when God says, well, why should I let you in here? Why
should I hear you? Well, I. Oh, no. They're going to say,
well, he. If they utter anything, it's
going to be he. Right. Oh, look at our text again, I
got to hurry. But you say, Preacher, I've got
a problem with sin. I've got a problem. I believe
that. I believe Jesus is Christ. I believe He's my only righteousness.
I believe He's my only hope before God. I believe these things.
I do believe. But I've got a problem. I can't
seem to find any relief from it. I'm beset with sin every
day, day in, day out. The world's pulling me here.
The world's pulling me there. I want to follow Christ, but I don't
know how. Like that pilgrim, I just don't know how. How do
I? Verse 3, the enemy has persecuted
me. Who's that talking about? Satan.
See who that's talking about? The enemy. Christ called him
a roaring lion, didn't he? He said we wrestle not against
flesh and blood. Paul said we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, against principality. I don't care how old-fashioned
this sounds. Christi, I don't care if the world scorns this
Satan. You may not blame everything
on Satan. No, we're not blaming everything on Satan. It's just
the fact. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness
of this world. He's the God of this world. Spiritual wickedness in high
places. There's someone who's on your
tail. And Christ said about Peter,
he said, Satan desires you to sift you like wheat. What's his
hope, Joe? What's my hope? What's your son's
hope, your daughter's hope? If Christ prays for them, if
they see their need of Christ and call upon him now, no promise
of tomorrow. I know that's old fashioned and
absurd to some, but there's a real struggle with sin in the heart
of every person, every believer, that is. And this is what he
says, the enemy has persecuted my soul, smitten my life down
to the ground. Do you ever feel like a... smitten
to the ground? Do you ever feel like that lunatic
that came to Christ that tore him? Do you ever feel torn by
the world? Do you want to follow Christ
with the world? Huh? Anybody. Come on. Torn. Tears me asunder. Foaming at
the mouth. How much foam is coming out?
I've seen it in some of you. I've seen it in me. I've looked
into it. Foaming it. I hope I'm not doing it now. Foaming it to my mouth. Spewing
forth blasphemy, murmuring, complaining, bitterness, cussing. God! That's
who we're cussing, whatever we cuss. And that's what he wants
us to do. Tearing me. Dwell in darkness.
Look at that. Verse 3. I dwell in darkness.
I'm so dead, so ignorant, so stone-cold spiritually. I don't
know God from Satan. Don't know where I'm going, where
I've been. Verse 4, my spirit is overwhelmed
within me. My heart within me is empty. I need some answers. Verse 5, I remember the days
of old. There was a time when the gospel
was sweet to me. You can say with Job, all that
I was in months past. Verse 6, I stretch forth my hands
unto thee." Like that woman with the issue of blood, Nancy. She
had a problem. What was she doing? Sitting around
waiting on God to come to her? No. When He was passing by, she
got a hold of Him, didn't she? Blind Bartimaeus, when he heard
the only one that could help him was passing by, what did
he do? Sit around and say, well, God's sovereign. Oh, no. Didn't he? He got up, buddy,
and cast that robe and ran. He couldn't see, but he started
running. And he said, verse six, I'm thirsty. Verse seven, hear
me in a hurry, Lord. This is the reason people that
sit around at time and time again on the sound of the gospel and
don't commit to Christ, that man or woman, by all practical
purposes, is on their road to hell. And young person, The scriptures keep saying, why
will you die? Well, I'm too young to die. What? I lost my best friend when I
was 15 years old. I dragged his dead body out of
a basement he had asphyxiated. And I gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
to my best friend, 15 years old. Stone-cold dead, his body was
as hard as this pulpit. Rigor mortis had set in. Weeping,
screaming. A 21-year-old brother. I'm too young to die. No, no,
no. Anybody who's ever seen their
need of God and salvation is going to cry out like David,
hear me in a hurry, now. Hear me in a hurry. Listen to
me very carefully. Now, we all go through these
dry spells. Listen, we all go through these spiritual dry spells,
me included. That's not our problem. When
we go through these spiritual dry spells where the gospel doesn't
mean much to us, we get unmoved by our message and all that.
That's not the problem. You know what the problem is?
The problem is when we're not bothered by it. When I look at
people who go through, I'm talking long spells, unmoved, uncaring,
gospel message after gospel message just flying over their head.
Oh, then I'm getting worried now, worried. And the man seeking God, a seeker
of God, is crying out, I've got to have you now, not tomorrow. There may not be one. This is
an urgent message. calls me, verse 8, calls me. You know how you're going to
hear the gospel? You know how anybody's going to hear the gospel,
Terry? How anybody's going to believe
it if God causes this? We'd better be crying for our
children. God forbid that I should sin
against God and cease Him to pray for my brethren. But what
about my children? Ain't nobody else really going
to do much praying for my kids. caused me to hear thy lovingkindness
in the morning. What morning? Sunday morning.
Right now. May the 3rd, 1992. This morning. Somebody right now, think that
in your heart. Caused me to hear thy lovingkindness in this morning. We're not having services tonight.
I say, Preacher, you're trying to get us all drummed up. God
help us, I am trying to get us all drummed up. Our kids included. John? Well, what's the answer? Where
am I going to go? Where do I turn? Well, here's the answer. Are
you interested? Look at verse 9. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine
enemies. I flee to Thee. I'm trying to run, I'm trying
to turn, my buddies, the world, everything's just pulling me
this way and that way. Where am I going to go? The pastor?
Well, he might have some good advice, but if he's any kind
of pastor at all, he'll tell you where to go. Well, I turn
here, I try to find my enjoyment here, and this and that and the
other. I try to get taken up with this and that. The world
is seeing myself as bombarding me. What am I going to do? Look, God says unto me, and be ye saved. Save yourselves
from this untoward generation. How? Look unto me. Call upon the name of the Lord.
Jennifer, you're old enough to call on the name of the Lord. Call upon the name of the Lord
while he may be found. When? I'm preaching the Lord
Jesus Christ right now. He's found. Some people have
found Him here in this very setting. Haven't you, Joe? You've heard
Christ. You've seen Him in all His glory.
You've seen your need of Him. And you called on Him by His
grace. Teach me. Look, go on. Just read
the last three verses together and I'll quit. Teach me to do
your will. This is discipleship. Teach me to do your will. I don't
want my will. You know what my will wants to
do? Sin. Right? Teach me to do your will. You're my God. I believe God. I believe Christ. Lord, help
my unbelief. Your Spirit's good. I consent
that it's good, and I want to do it. Right, Steve? Do you?
It's good. I want to be good. I want to
be like Christ. Leave me. How am I going to do
this? Lead me. Grab me by the hand like a lock
and jerk me out high. Don't leave hiding a hair of
me in there. Quicken me, O Lord. Take the gospel precious to me.
For your name's sake, for Christ's sake, for your righteousness'
sake, because that's why He came, bring my soul out of trouble.
And of your mercy, would you get rid of these problems? My enemies, would you cut my
friends off? These so-called old cronies of
mine that are plaguing me, I can't seem to let go of them. And I
sure can't have any fellowship with them. All I do is find out. All I do is turn out to be just
like them. I become like them instead of
vice versa. Destroy all that afflict my soul. I'm your servant. Christ, Christ, eternal life. Christ. Give me Christ. Your
friends pulling, the world pulling, sin pulling, the enemy, Satan,
pulling. Look to Christ. Put your hands
in your ears. How are you going to put your
hands? How do you put your hands in your ears? You come here and here. You blot
out the world. commotion of this world, and
you hear this. You get up every morning and
you hear this. And you cry out, hear me, O Lord. Hear me, O Lord.
If you go not with me, carry me not thence. Carry me not to
my job. Carry me not out into the community. Carry me not.
Don't take me out of here until you hear me. Restrain me. Keep me. Quicken me. Appoint me to Christ. What more can I say? Joe, what number did I have written
down there, by this closing hymn? 389. Let's turn to 389 and sing
that. Brother Joe, would you come up
here and lead this plea? 389, I hope, by God's grace, that he will impress this upon
your heart, my, make you resolved, a holy resolve, a firm resolve.
Paul said, I'm persuaded. This is biblical language. I'm
persuaded. Paul said, I'm determined. And this is what this hymn writer's
saying. I'm resolved no longer to linger.
If I linger, I'm going to perish with Sodom. Charmed by the world's
delight. There's things much higher, things
of much nobler. These have allured my sight.
I'm going in a hurry. I said. Cross the same thing
as three eighty nine. Stand with me. Let's bring the
first second in the field stands first second in the field. I am resolved no longer to linger
charmed by the world divine. Things that are higher, things
that are lower, please have the Lord by sight. I will hasten to Him, hasten
so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will
come to Thee. I am resolved to go to the Savior,
leave my sins in strife. He is the true one. He is the just one. He hath the word of life. I will hasten to Him, hasten
so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will
come to Thee. I am resolved and You will go
with me, come soon without delay. Taught by the Bible, led by the
Spirit, He walks a heavenly way. I will hasten to Him, hasten
so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will
come to Thee. Thank you and you're dismissed.