Do you know how that song came
about? Do you know the story behind
that song? Many of these songs, as with
poems, as with some of the songs you all have written, are born
out of an experience, out of something that took place in
your life, and the Lord prompted you to write a song about it. years who lived years ago said
that he was in his house he was sitting at his desk studying
and there was quite a storm that came up outside a raging storm
thunder and lightning and rain and back then they didn't have
storm windows they just had windows that they'd open up and had shutters
some of y'all know I've seen shutters that you can actually
close up And cover the window. But he said he went over to the
window which was open to close the shutters and he had a robe
on. It was late at night and he had
a robe on. He said he went to close the shutters. He reached
out to close the shutters like that and a little bird flew right
inside his robe. Like that. And he closed the
shutter and left him right there. And he sat down and wrote this
song. Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly, while
the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high. Hide
me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past. Safe into
the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 11 with me. Matthew 11. I've got a message
this morning that may be just for one person in here. No one
in particular, maybe it's for me, maybe the Lord will bless
it to me. But it's a message for someone
with a need. Someone with a need. And I'm
not talking about someone who needs a job, who needs money,
we all need that. A better job, we think we do
anyway. A better job, more money, a new
home, a better car, and so forth. That's not the need I'm talking
about. I'm talking about someone who's spiritually poor and needy,
has spiritual needs. I'm talking about what the scriptures
refer to as a needy sinner. A sinner. And that's all of us,
but we don't all know that we are needy. We're all sinners.
We don't all necessarily know that we're terribly needed. And
there aren't many. There aren't many that know this.
There aren't many that consider it. And that's the reason I say
that this may be just for one person, just one person in here
this morning. I don't know who. I hope somebody. I hope. Sure hate to preach sermons. I sure hate that. I sure would
love to see somebody really under conviction. Been a long time, see somebody
under true Holy Spirit conviction over sin, sorrowful. If I did,
if I saw somebody like that, I'd have a good message for you.
Awful good news. The trouble is, the unbeliever,
an unbeliever loves sin and loves this world, he's not He's not
troubled by anything. He's all gung-ho for this world,
the unbeliever, and doesn't want to part with it until God makes
him sick of it. God does make people sick of
this world after a while. And a professing believer, a
mere one who attends church, a professing believer, whether
he is or not, a true one or not, He may be, he reaches a point,
he or she reaches a point where they get a little relief from
sin, their life has been cleaned up a little bit, things are going
okay and so forth, and they get a little bit disinterested in
the gospel. They haven't heard it before, you know. And get
a little relief from sin, and they lose interest in that greatest
need. Lose their first love like the church sets it. Until God
finally brings them down again and shows them just how badly
they need the same Savior they needed in the beginning. But if somebody in here is a
needy sinner, I mean you've got problems. I'm not talking about
temporal problems, though, but I'm talking about inward problems.
You're tired of yourself. You're tired of this world. You're
plagued with yourself. You're plagued with the world.
You're plagued with your own filthy mind, your own filthy
heart. You're plagued with all these things, and you desperately
need somebody to help you. I'm going to tell you about somebody
who can help you. I'm going to tell you about somebody with
all the answers. I'm going to tell you about somebody who is
the answer this morning. One who has all the answers,
one who is the answer, one who is the only help and the only
hope of an old, dirty, rotten, filthy, hell-deserving sinner
like you and like me. And the Scripture calls him in
verse 19 of Matthew 11, a son of man. The Son of Man came eating
and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man, a wine-bibber,
and blessed God, a friend of publicans and sinners. Oh, how wisdom is justified of
our children, how God can take the wrath of man and praise himself
with it. Christ Jesus, the Scripture says,
came into this world, say, sinners. If you're moral, if you're all
right, if you think you're okay, I'm okay, you're okay, Christ
Jesus didn't come to save you. Now, let me say this. I'm talking
about sinners here, needy sinners. Let me say it again. I'm not
talking about somebody that's just in a jam. I'm not talking
about Christ just getting somebody out of a jam. out of a mess,
providing somebody with temporal needs. That's what many people
want Christ and follow Christ for, and it's that, just to get
out of the mess they're in. A man gets way, way down in this
world, and no place else to look but up, and he cries out to somebody
to help him. And he claims to have some experience
in Jesus, and some spirit somewhere gives him the things he needs. But Christ said this, and he
said this about a lot of people that followed him. There were
a lot of people that followed him everywhere he went. And he
turned to say to some of them, he said, now you follow me because
you've got your belly full. You did eat the loaves and fishes
and were filled. You follow me for that reason.
And another place that said he didn't commit himself to some
of them, because he knew what was in them, that God was their
belly. In other words, they're getting
out of religion just what—they're in religion so they can for what
they can get out of it. They say they believe on Jesus
because Jesus helps. He's co-pilot. He gets them out
of a mess every now and then. But Christ didn't come for these
people. He came for real sinners. There
were some real sinners. If you will read your Bible and
look at the places where the Lord met certain people and revealed
himself to them, there were some real sinners now. I mean some
real needy sinners, helpless, hopeless sinners. They came to
Christ, and he helped them, buddy. You better believe he helped
them. He saved them. He saved them. Christ said, I didn't come to
call the righteous, the moral, the religious. I didn't come
to call them the sinners. He said, the well don't need
a physician, but they that are sick, I mean sin sick, troubled,
And I might add this. Friends and lovers of the world,
they don't need the friendship of Christ. Scripture says the
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Can't serve two masters. Can't do it. But only those who
are sick of this world and sick of themselves and feel a desperate
need of somebody to help them. If that's you, then Christ Jesus
came for you. And he's called a friend. And
oh, what a friend. It's a what a friend we have. What a friend. Let me tell you
why he's called the friend of sinners. Let me prove it. Look
over at Matthew chapter one. What a friend. He's called a
friend of sinners because the scripture proves it, that he's
the friend of sinners. It proves it by his incarnation. It proves by his incarnation.
The fact that God Almighty left majesty to come down here into
misery proves it. The fact that he left eternal
happiness and bliss and glory Come down in here to hatred and
sadness and misery. The fact that he left God, his
altogether love, left his Father, to come down
here and be separated from his Father. Oh my God, my God, he
cried. Why? Had to. He's going to come safe soon.
Look here at Matthew chapter 1. It's proved by his pedigree. Here's the pedigree of our Lord
when he came to earth, when God came to earth. This is his family
tree. Look at it. It proves he's a friend of sinners.
Here's the family tree of God Almighty. Verse 1, the book of
the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David. Now, who's
David? David was an adulterous man. David was a murderer. David was
a sinner. You think of David as a man after
God's own heart, which he was, but David was just plain old
ordinary sinner is what David was. I mean, David, he got into
some messes, boy. Bad, bad messes. Every time he turned around,
David was in a mess. This is, he calls himself son
of David. Look on down here, verse 3. Verse
2, Abraham. Well, who was Abraham? The father
of the faithful. Now, wait a minute. Let's go back to the beginning,
where Abraham came from. Abraham was an idolater. He lived
in a pagan land. He lived where, what is now,
right around Iraq. He would have been a Muslim if
he had been over there today, worshiping false gods, idols,
75 years old when he left his daddy. I mean, an old dyed-in-wool
pagan idolater. But God saved that man. God revealed
himself to that man. And Abraham never was much, too
much better. I mean, he became a man of God,
yes, but he showed his colors when he became a coward over
and over again, didn't he? Abraham, what was Abraham? A
sinner. Verse 3. And Judas beget Therese
and Therese Zerah of Tamar. You know who that is? Tamar. Judah's daughter, she's the one
that played the harlot. She's the one that played the
harlot and had an incestuous relationship with her daddy.
I'm talking sin now. Sinful. Wretched. Christ saw
fit to include her in his family tree. Oh, verse 5. And Solomon begat
Boaz. Solomon begat Boaz of Rapechab. You know who that is? You know who Rahab was? She was
a harlot as well. I thought this was interesting.
While I was looking at this, Boaz came from Rahab, and Solomon
came from Bathsheba. Two iniquitous, adulterous, sinful
women, two of the mightiest men on earth, and two wonderful pictures
of Christ came from those women, but Christ identified himself
Proved it by his incarnation, his family tree. Verse 6, Jesse
begat David the king, David the king begat Solomon of her. She
was so sinful that he didn't even mention her name. Of her
that had been the wife of Uriah. We always like to blame this
thing on David, don't we? Bathsheba was in on it, too.
Bathsheba, sinner. All of this, this is proof of
Christ's love for sinners, isn't it? He left majesty to come down
here to misery. He left holiness to come down
here and be identified with, in the family of, to be numbered
with. His name, the name of Jesus Christ,
right down there in verse 16, is numbered with all of these
filthy, rotten, wretched transgressors in the family tree. That's proof. And he proved it by his association
with sinners. He came down in the middle of
sinners. When Christ came to the earth,
he didn't come to the religious halls. He didn't go over to the
temple and the church house and so forth. He came to the church,
yes, but not the temple, not the big fancy cathedrals and
so forth. Christ came to sinners. He wasn't
identified with those who wore robes and so forth. He identified
with sinners. He ate with them. The common,
ordinary folks, he had his arms around them. Sinners were drawn
to him. Everywhere Christ went, everywhere
he went, sinners were drawn to him. One time he was in the house
of a Pharisee. He just went there to find one of his
sheeps, what he did. But he was in the house of an
old Pharisee one time, and he was reclining there and eating
with these religious people. I'm sure he didn't. He didn't
have much to say to these fellas. But somebody came in, he had
something to say too. He was waiting on her, Terry.
A common, ordinary street woman came walking in there, weeping
and crying, and fell down at his feet and began bathing his
feet with tears. She was crying uncontrollably,
bathing his feet with tears, and began to wipe his feet with
the hair of her head. And he had some things to say
to her. Now, he was waiting on her. Now, that's who he'd come
into this house waiting on. Her. And the Pharisee said, don't
touch her. Don't you know what she is? He
knew who she was. He wouldn't. Oh, he knew her.
He foreknew her. From the foundation of the world.
He foreknew her. All along. He knew who she was.
He knew what she was. A sinner. And that's who he came
to call. That's a fair scene. He came
one day to a well. Hot and thirsty after a long
day's journey, he came to a well in the middle of the day. And
a woman came up to him, who had been married five times, that
came to the well. A woman whom everybody avoided.
A notorious woman of the city. Everybody avoided her. She's
a sinner. Everybody avoided her. Everybody
but one, that is. It came to her. She was a daughter
of Abraham, too. She was his child. Everybody
shrank to be seen with her, but one, thank God, he didn't shrink. He was walking by one day in
the midst of a bunch of a big crowd of people and all that,
and he just happened to walk by a tree wherein dwelleth a
little man. little man who was up a tree.
I've been up a few trees. I knew I'm up a tree right now. This thing's over my head. Too
big for me. I'm up a tree. That's what Spurgeon
said. One of his preaching students
was a little short fellow, and Spurgeon gave him an impromptu
message to bring. He said, Stand up, Paul, and
give us a little message on Zacchaeus. A fellow got up and said, well,
he said, Zacchaeus was short. And he said, so am I. And he
said, Zacchaeus was up a tree. He said, so am I. He said, Zacchaeus came down.
He said, so am I. And sat down. And this person
gave him an A. He said, good job. But Christ
just happened to come by one day where this little fellow
was up a tree. Who was this little fellow? Ah, he was the most despised
fellow in all the land. A cheat, a public, as they called
him, a cheat, a fellow who cheated his mother to make a dollar.
And Christ walked by. There you are. Come on down. I've got to go to your house.
Go on to your house. I'm not come to call the righteous,"
Christ said to all those Pharisees around him and so forth. There's a sinner. Come to call
him. He did too, didn't he? Zacchaeus,
come on down. I'm coming to your house. Ah, boy, that woman that was
caught in adultery. Remember, he was in the temple
teaching, and the Pharisees, the religious folks, the mob
scene came in with this woman caught right in the act, and
threw her down. And he said, We caught you now,
and we're going to catch him, too. He said, This woman was
caught right in the act of adultery. Moses says in the law that she
is to be stoned. What sayeth thou? And they asked
the wrong person, didn't they? The time he got through with
these self-righteous religious church-going Pharisees, they
weren't any of them around. None of them could show their
face. One, but one, that is. And he told her, you stand right
up. He stooped down to where she was, this woman called in
the act, and stooped down to where she was and lifted her
up and said, woman, where are your accusers? Does no man accuse
you? She looked around and dried her
eyes and said, Well, I guess not. He said, Well, I guess I
don't either. Neither do I. You go and send
no more. And his greatest glory was accomplished
between two thieves, thieves and murderers. His greatest glory
was accomplished between two thieves. And one of them, they
both were casting the same comments at the Lord, you know, hey, he
saved others, let him save himself. Save us, if you be the Lord,
save yourself and save us, too. They were both hollering at him,
but all of a sudden, one of those old boys, Terry, came to himself. No, the Lord had come to him.
But he realized who this was, just by looking at him. He might
have been going, I don't believe in... Wait a minute. was hearing him
talk. And then finally, all of a sudden,
he just made an about face and said, Lord, Lord, would you remember me?
And Christ turned to that old boy, a murderer, thief and a
murderer, turned to that old boy and said, Remember you. I never forgot you. I had you
on my heart and mind from the very foundation of the world.
I foreknew you before time began. I came to this very place to
save such like you. Remember you. Oh boy, today you're
going to be with me in paradise." He had nothing with—you know,
he made his grave with the wicked. He had nothing but words of kindness
to sinners. Nothing but words of harshness
to Pharisees. Didn't he? He was a friend of sinners. That
proves it. Friend of sinners because of
his sermons. His sermons proved it. He gave
parable after parable of lost sheep. Lost coins, lost son,
parable of a lost sheep. He talked about the shepherd
walking through rain and snow and hazarding his life and so
forth. To find one sheep, leaving the ninety and nine, which have
no need of repentant, and go to one lost sheep, hazard his
life, yea, lay down his life for one miserable little black
sheep on the backside of a desert in a little town of Rocky Mountain.
Go find a woman. That proves he's a friend of
the sinner's, doesn't it? The parable of the lost horn,
the work of the Holy Spirit, the lost son. Who can read, hear
the story of the lost son without tears and feeling the Father
falling on the neck of that wayward son? Falling on the neck and
kissing him. Before he could get out of his
little story, his little spiel, you know, I'd say to him, Put a ring on his finger, bring
the best robe, been waiting on you, buddy. These were the messages of Christ.
He stood up in front of that whole town and said, Oh, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem. He said, Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come to me. He's a friend of sinners. Crucified
by his prayers, he prayed over and over again, Oh, Peter, There
is never a more sinful fellow than old Peter. Never a fellow
who was just so up and down, lost one, or saved one day and
lost the next, seemingly. Believe it one day and then just
like everybody in the world, the next, you know. Old Peter,
he was a sinful man. That's the first thing he said
when Christ revealed himself to him. Depart from me, Lord,
I'm a sinful man. Lord, you don't want to hang
around with much like me. You don't want to be seen with me. I better,
Peter. I'm the one that can help you,
buddy. I came to fellas just like you. And Peter proved himself,
Joe, all his life, the whole time he was with Christ. Proved
himself, even up to the bitter end. And Christ, when it's all
over with, he said, Now you go tell my disciples. And make sure
you tell old Peter. And he said, Peter, Satan has
desired to sift you like wheat, but he said, Buddy, I'm praying
for you. This is proof of his love and friendship with sinners
he prays for. He said, I'm not praying for
the world. Didn't he say that in John 17? I'm not praying for
the world. The world out there is okay. Everybody's all right. It's self-righteous,
you know. Everybody's religious. But I'm
praying for sinners. Ah, boy. Just one in here. He said, I pray for you. I pray
for you. You know, the measure of someone's
love and concern can be largely determined by the frequency and
the earnestness of their prayers for those people. You love your
children, you pray for them. God loves his children, he prayed
for them. Oh, he prayed without ceasing,
Terry, without ceasing. Constantly prayed for them. Surely
no man prayed for his people like Christ did. He's the friend
of sinners, and it's proved by his death. Turn over to Romans
chapter 5 with me. Friend of sinners. He proved
it especially by dying for them. Greater love hath no man than
this. Greater love hath no man than this. Look at Romans 5 with
me. Substitution. You know what substitution is?
It's taking the place, it's taking the place of somebody who's guilty.
It's the innocent dying for the guilty. That's what Christ did.
Romans 5, verse 6. When we were yet without strength,
without hope, without a friend in the world, certainly without
a friend that could help us, in due time, God's time, according
to the times, the day of salvation, Christ died for the ungodly.
Now, scarcely for a righteous man will one die. I wouldn't. Just be honest now. Yet for a
good man, some would dare die. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Don't you wish you could get
a hold of this? Don't you wish this would touch your heart like
it ought to? That this holy, spotless Son of God Almighty
come down to this earth and be brutally beaten and so forth.
Would I deserve to be brutally killed in my place? But if somebody,
if we actually saw somebody save our lives, somebody say we were
crossing the street and a car came along and somebody dove
and shoved us out of the way and they were killed in doing
that. Oh, you reckon we'd be talking about that person? You
reckon we'd love them for what they've done for us? Back years ago, when they had
one-room schoolhouses, some of you may have gone to
one of those, one-room schoolhouses, and they put the older and the
younger kids all together in one room. Back in the hills of
Kentucky, there was a little poor schoolhouse. A little fellow, a little shriveled-up
fellow was a teacher, and he came in first day of school for
the year, and he said, Now, if you're going to have a school,
you've got to have some rules. He said, You've got to have some
rules to go by. So he said, I'm going to let
you all make the rules here. I'm going to let you all come
up with the rules, whatever you you say goes. You make the rules
and make the punishment. So one would raise his hand and
say, no cussing. No cussing, all right, no cussing.
Now what's the penalty for cussing? It's right on the board, a hundred
times, we're not cussing. Okay, all right. Another would
raise his hand. No hooking, no playing hooky.
No playing hooky, all right. What's the penalty for that?
You've got to stay after school for three days. Okay, A little
old fella named, a big fella, a great big old fella named Joe.
He was usually named Joe. A great big old husky fella,
about 20 years old, been in school all his life. He said, no stealing. No stealing, all right, no stealing.
What's the penalty? And old Joe said, ten stripes
across the back with a rod. I had to teach him. All right,
ten stripes. So they got the rules down, and
time went by. And one day, old Joe, big Joe,
came up to the teacher and said, Teacher, somebody stole my lunch. They did. All right, we'll find
out about it. And come to find out, it was
a little old fella named Paul. A little old fella, a little
easily scrawny little fella named Paul. He was thin and gaunt,
a poor little fella, a young fella. He always wore a big,
big old robe, big old, heavy coat on his, over him, never
took that coat off. And they caught him, and they
brought him up in front of the class. They brought him up in
front of the class and said, now, little Joe, or little Paul,
he's been caught stealing. And you all know the penalty
for stealing, don't you? You said it yourself. 10 stripes
across the back with a rod. He said, son, take your coat
off. We're going to have to punish
you. He said, oh, teacher, don't make
me take my coat off. He said, I'll take it, Lincoln, but don't
make me take my coat off. He said, no, son, I'm sorry.
You've got to take your coat off. He says, right here, 10
stripes across the back with a rod. Oh, teacher, he didn't
make me take my coat off. So finally, he made him take
his coat off, and the man didn't have it. He put a fellow down
with a shirt on underneath it. You can see it there. A little skinny little
fellow. And so the teacher got that bra, a big long ruler. He
said, you know the punishment. You stole it. You're going to
have to pay the price. He said, well, can we make a
rule that somebody can take another fellow's place? Let me take his place. The teacher says, all right, well,
you all right with that? So old Joe took his coat off,
and he was just bulging with muscles. He got there, and that
teacher started flailing. Finally broke the ruler after
five licks, and everybody in there was crying. And little
Paul ran up to him and put his arms around old Joe's neck and
said, Joe, buddy, you'll be my friend forever. I'm sorry, buddy. I'm sorry. Thank you for taking
my licking. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. proved by his intercession, a
friend of sinners, by his intercession. He's at the right hand of God
right now, interceding for sinners. Now, there could be some accusations
going on. Look at there. See what he's
doing? Look at old John. See what he's thinking or doing?
Wait a minute. He's mine. Touch not mine anointing. That's mine. He's mine. Bought
and paid for. Can't say a thing about Who is
he that condemneth? Christ died, right? Christ died. Yea, and he rose again. He is
even at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. When we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more
now, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life, by his
intercession. I'm real sorry that I'm a sinner,
and I'm sorry enough. I'm ashamed of it, and I'm ashamed
enough. If I was ashamed enough about
it, I wouldn't, I couldn't, you couldn't control yourself. If
you were in here in the sound of the gospel, you couldn't control
yourself in here if you realized what you were before this holy
God. But I'm a sinner, and you're a sinner, and I'm ashamed of
it. I really am. But I'll tell you something,
though. I'm glad I'm a sinner. Does that make sense to some
of you? I'm glad, because the promises
are sinners. Oh, Scott Richardson said, you
can't claim the promise unless you fit the character described.
Christ said, I came into the world to save sinners. He's a
sinner. Didn't come to call you righteous.
You righteous? Didn't come to call you. Sinner. You sinner?
Yeah. Sure enough, I am. Through and
through. Boy, you got a friend. Never lose your sinnerhood. As
my pastor always says that, don't ever lose your sinnerhood. We
want to be conformed to the image of Christ. We want to do without
sin. Spurgeon said, the one thing I desire more than anything is
to be without sin. You hate it. You hate yourself.
But don't ever lose sight of the fact that you're going to
be one from now on. Don't lose sight. Don't ever get up, don't
get any further up than low down. As Donnie said, lower than a
snake's belly. Never lose sight of your rightful
place. Only one place you have a right
to go, in the dust. Right? In the dust, seeking mercy. If you can stay right there,
this is a faithful saying, and it's worthy for you to believe.
Christ came into the world saved just like that. Christ is a sinner's only hope,
and He's their friend. He's the friend of sinners, and
I'll hurry. He's the friend of sinners. It's
proof by His—now listen, this will help. This will help you.
It's proof by His compassion. his understanding, and his approachableness. The Scripture says he's touched
with the feeling of your infirmities, tempted in all points, like as
we are. Oh, no, he couldn't. Yes, he
does. Tempted and tried in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. But he knows we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but he's touched. He knows our frame. Aren't you
glad about that? Psalm 103, 13. As a father pities
his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him. And only
an old sinner fears God, doesn't he? Self-righteous man, doesn't
he? Walks up and shakes Jesus' hand.
Sinner comes bowing. He says if we come to him with
all our problems, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and he's
just and he'll forgive us. We got a friend full of compassion,
understanding, and approachableness. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a friend you could completely
open up to and pour out your heart and soul to and your troubles
without fear of judgment or condemnation? Somebody you could be totally
honest with and then with you. You ever had somebody like that?
Or do you have somebody? If you do, you're blessed. Somebody
you could let your guard down, not put on a show, pretense or
whatever. Just say what's on your mind,
on your heart. Wouldn't you like to have somebody like that? There
is one. You may not find one around here,
but believe me, there is one. If you can't find one like that,
there is one. He said, you come to me. You
tell me all your troubles. And he would have you open up
completely. Don't hide it. I know all about
it anyway. Like a parent with their children.
They know everything that children goes on, don't they? Say, wink
at some of it. They know everything. And mom
and dad sure are naive. Well, no, they know. They know. The Scripture says, come unto
me. Christ said, come unto me. The Scripture says there's no
fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear. My daughter doesn't have to fear
coming to me with anything. The rest of her life, Hannah,
the rest of your life, no matter what you do or whatever you get
into, you get into trouble, you can come to Daddy. Daddy
will love you. He won't condemn you. Never, never cast you out. Your
friend, your bosom buddy, my—Christ said it about his friend, my
own familiar friend whom I trusted, ate bread with him, had many
sweet hours of discourse together, thought he loved me, lifted up
his hand against me. Paul the Apostle said it seemed
like the more I loved people, the less I loved. My buddy Christ said he'd never
leave. Perfect love casts out fear,
fear of condemnation. parent for a child, fear of losing
somebody. Fear of losing somebody. That
boy. Christ said, I'll never leave
him to you nor forsake you. And that's my next point. Friend
of sinners, proof by his faithfulness. Wouldn't he like to have somebody
who's always there when you need him? Huh? Any old time. Call him up in the middle of
the night with, oh, I'll wake him up. I don't want to wake him
up, he's getting mad. Every time I talk to him on the
phone anyway, he growls at me. When you knock down somebody,
call up any old time and say, hey, three o'clock in the morning,
what do you need? Yeah, I'll help you. There is such a woman. Christ said, I'm with you even
unto the end of the world. Scripture says a friend loveth
at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Right? A brother doesn't leave when
the trouble starts. A friend doesn't leave when the
trouble starts, when the need arises. A friend in need is a
friend indeed. A brother, a friend, loves at
all times, even two in the morning. And a brother is born for adversity. Let me read you something in
closing. You're just going to be Blessed by this, Micah, the
book of Micah. Turn over there with me, and
we'll just be closing. Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, the book of Micah. I'll give
you a minute to find it. Micah, chapter 7. You're going to be
blessed by this. Old Micah is pouring out his
complaint to God. Like so many of God's people
are prone to do, they can't seem to find any help anywhere from
anybody but one. They finally resort to the one
they should have resorted to in the first place. Micah chapter
7, he says in verse 1, he says, Woe is me. Has anybody in here
been on a self-pity trip? Do you ever get off of it? Do you ever get off of that self-pity
trip? Oh, nobody loves me. Woe is me! I am as when they
have gathered the summer fruits as the great gleamings of the
vintage." In other words, I'm a dried-up vine. There's no cluster
to eat. My soul desired the first ripe
fruit. The good man, the godly, the
merciful, is perished out of the earth. Isn't that what David
said in another place? Help the Lord to godly fails. There's none upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man who's brother
with a net. That's about what goes on in
the church, isn't it? Ought not to be, brethren. These
things ought not to be. that they may do evil with both
hands earnestly. The prince asks, the judge asks
for a warden, a great man, and he utters his mischievous desire,
and they wrap it up. The best of them is like a briar.
The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. Stab you in the
back. The day of thy watchman and thy
visitation coming. Now shall be their perplexity.
Look at this verse 5 with me. You trust not in a friend, put
ye no confidence in a guide, and ye may even have to keep
the doors of your mouth, your lips from her that lies in your
bosom, even your own wife. For the son dishonors the father,
and the daughter rises up against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, a man's enemy to the men of his own house.
So what are we going to do? If the godly man fails, what
are we going to do? Where are we going to go? To
whom shall we go? Verse 7. Therefore, I'm just
going to have to look to the Lord. I wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. He'll hear
me. Don't you rejoice against me,
O mine enemy, when I fall. I'm going to rise. When I sin
in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me. I'll bear the
indignation of the Lord because I've sinned. I deserve it. Yes,
I do. Until he pleads his cause, though, he won't leave me there.
He condemns me, yes, but he forgives me, too. Faithful are the wounds
of a friend, yes, but right on the back of that's a pat and
a kiss. The Lord will execute judgment
or justice for me. He'll deal rightly with me. He'll
bring me forth to the light, and I'll behold his righteousness. That boy. There is a friend who's thicker,
closer than a brother, flesh and blood brother. A friend. Oh, what a friend. Let's sing
that. Joe numbers and wrote down. What's that. Three fifty two. Three fifty
four. Three fifty four. The same person. Five o'clock tonight. Stand with me.