th th She can bring him up here if
she wants to. She can bring him up here and
close any door. Oh, she's great. She's great. I'd like to put up some pictures
of her. th th th Okay. But the people smell real good,
they say. th th She sent you to a place. Good morning, let's all stand
together, we'll sing hymn number 208. Hymn number 208. Have you
been to Jesus' feet? Are you fully trusting in His
grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you walking daily by the
Savior's side? Are you washed in the blood are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood,
in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless, When the bridegroom cometh, will
your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Will your soul be ready for the
mansion's bride? And be washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood? In the soul-cleansing blood of
the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood? Lay aside the garments that are
stained with sin, And be washed in the blood of the Lamb. There's a fountain flowing for
the soul unclean, Only washed in the blood of the Lamb. Are you washed in the blood? In the soul-quenching blood of
the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? They said it. We'll sing hymn
number 460. 460 What a fellowship, what a joy
divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms. What a blessedness, what
a peace divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure
from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on
the effort. Oh, how sweet to walk in this
pilgrim's way, Leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how bright the path grows
from day to day, Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning on Jesus, leaning on
Jesus, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning on Jesus, leaning
on Jesus, leaning on Jesus. What have I to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near Leaning on the everlasting
arms Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus, safe and secure from
all alarm. Leaning on Jesus, leaning on
Jesus, leaning on the everlasting If you have your Bibles, open
with me to Daniel chapter 6. I was in a service one time. Preacher got up, you know how
back in them days they gave testimonies and all that and let people get
up and say whatever they wanted to say. This fella got up and
said, there's two kind of preachers I like, them that can and them
that can't. preacher got up and said, well,
I'm going to make one fellow happy tonight. That's what I'm
going to do. That's the only kind of preachers
there are. Those are kidding. Those are kidding. But I thought
that's so funny. That guy said that. I thought
that said that. My poor old mind goes to some
of the awfulest places. But I thought how funny that
is. So I'm going to make Eddie a happier man. I don't know. But anyway, I want to Look at
here, there was a conspiracy, a bunch of fellas made a conspiracy
against Daniel. They couldn't, in verse 5 it
says, and these said these men, we shall not find any occasion
against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning
the law of his God. Well they all got together and
they assembled together and they went to King Darius. In verse
7 they said this, All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors,
the princes, the counselors, the captains, have consulted
together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree
that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty
days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of
lions. Now old King established the
decree, signed the writing, that it be not changed according to
the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore
King Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel
knew this, that the writing was signed, he went into his house,
opened his windows, being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem.
He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave
thanks before his God as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled
and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his
God. Then came they near, and spake before the king concerning
the king's decree. Hast thou not signed a decree
that every man shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty
days? Save of thee, O king, shall he
be cast into the den of lions. The king answered and said, The
thing is true. According to the law of Mees
and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said
before the king, That Daniel which is of the children of the
captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree
that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.'
Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased
with himself, and set on his heart on Daniel to deliver him,
and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him."
Now he couldn't do it. He couldn't even break his own
law. That law was unalterable. But He loved Daniel. And He labored
all day trying to figure out a way to get around His own law.
Trying to figure out a way to save Daniel. But there's no way
He could do it. It would be impossible to do
it. Without breaking His own law. And that's the way it is
with us. Without God breaking His own
law to save us, He couldn't do it. He could not do it. But He
had His heart set on delivering us. Well, how is He going to
do it? Verse 15, Then these men assembled
under the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that
the law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree or statute which
the king established may be changed. Then the king commanded, and
they brought Daniel. Now law has got to be enforced. and cast him into the den of
lions. Now the king spake and said unto
Daniel, listen to this, thy God, whom thou serviced continually,
he will deliver you. He knew, he said, I can't save
you. My law can't save you, but God
can save you. God can save you. Our Father, in the blessed name
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, have we come with joy
and thanksgiving that you, in your sovereign mercy, devised
a way where your laws upheld, not altered in any way, and yet
you made a way to deliver us, to save us, redeem us, and bring
us to yourself. And, O Lord, we thank You that
You delivered us from the mouths of the lions that would devour
us, destroy us. And, O Lord, we thank You that
You saved us. And, O Lord, we pray that You
would meet with us here today, God, that You'd come meet among
us, come and be in our presence, enable Your gospel to be preached
freely, fully, completely, God honoring Christ's exalting way.
And Lord, save your people, save your sheep, save your people
in this place. Send your sheep in to hear the
gospel. Save your sheep in to hear the
gospel of the free grace of God in Christ, the only hope for
a poor sinner. And Lord, we pray for those that
are not with us today. that you would be merciful to
them, gracious to them, giving them abundance of grace and give
them a bunch of strength. And Lord, till they can come
worship with us again. There are those who are sick
in body, bodies are frail and weak, so meet their needs. And God have mercy on us today
and upon our children. And we ask these things in Christ
our Lord's name. Amen. Hymn number 235. ? Pass me not, O gentle Savior
? Hear my humble cry ? While on others Thou art calling do not pass You, my humble cry While on others
Thou art Do not pass me by. Let me add a throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief Kneeling there in deep contrition,
held by unbelief. hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by Trusting only in Thy merit Would
I seek Thy face heal my wounded broken spirit
save me by thy grace save Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by. of all my comfort, more than
life to me. Have I on earth beside Thee Whom
in heaven but Thee Savior Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art going, Do not pass me by. We'll stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. I once was a stranger to grace
and to God, I knew not my danger, I felt not Oh, friends spoke in rapture
of Christ on the tree, Jehovah's second new was nothing to me. Like tears from the daughters
of Zion did roll, I wept when the waters whipped over his soul. It thought not that my sins had
nailed to the tree. Jehovah's a king, you was nothing
to me With free grace awoke me by life from on high. Then legal fear shook me, I trembled
to die. No refuge, no safety in self
could I see. Jehovah's a kindred my Saviour
must be My terrors all vanished before
His sweet name My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came. Be seated. Jehovah's to kid you means the
Lord our righteousness it's from Jeremiah 23 6 now I want you
to look with me over in Job Chapter 33 I read that about Daniel being
delivered thy God will deliver thee And Christ is our Deliverer Christ is our Deliverer In verse 22 it says this, Job
33 verse 22, Yea, his soul draweth near unto
the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a message
with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto
man his uprightness, not man's uprightness, but God's, Christ.
Then look what he says when he's getting ready to go to the grave.
Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. His flesh
shall be fresher than a child's, and he shall return to the days
of his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he
will be favorable unto him, and he shall share his face with
joy, for he will render unto man his righteousness. I want
to talk about Christ our Deliverer. Christ our Deliverer. Now I read
about a heathen king over in Daniel 6. And that heathen king
made a law. The law couldn't be changed.
And the law couldn't be broken, there had to be a penalty of
breaking it. The penalty was death. Yet he said to Daniel,
thy God will deliver thee, thy God will deliver thee. He'll
deliver you from your enemies who plotted against you. He'll deliver you from the law and from death. Deliver you is
used more times, deliver, the word deliver is used more times
in the Bible than I could, it could possibly be counted. But
what it means is to render something up. Like in Romans 8, 32, God
delivered up His Son. Delivered Him up, rendered Him
up for us, for us. God delivered up His own Son,
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. And because
he delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also freely
give us all things in Christ? And it means also to save by
power. When Darius said, thy God shall
deliver thee, God's got the power to save you, to save you from
the lions, save you from the mouth of the lions, your sure
death. And so it means to save by power.
Now God does nothing without reason. without a reason. And this reason's only found
in himself. He can never find any reason
in us to do anything. The reason he does anything can
only be found in himself. And that's what it says here
in verse 24. Then he is gracious unto him
and saith. He was right on the brink of
death. Then God is gracious unto him and said unto him, deliver
him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. found a ransom. God is sovereign in all of His
works, and He works all things out through the counsel of His
own will. But here s the difference in
His will and any other God s will, or anybody else s will. His will
is not arbitrary. Our will is arbitrary. Government's
will is arbitrary. I mean, it's fickle. It can decide
to do something or decide not to do it. But God's will is not
like that. His will comes from His wisdom. Scott Richardson said one time,
if we had God's power, We'd do whatever we wanted to, and we'd
change a lot of things, but if we had God's wisdom, we wouldn't
change a thing. So God's will is based on His
infinite, eternal wisdom. God's seen everything that would
be, and He declared that everything would be that way, and it was
backed by His wisdom, His righteousness, and His holiness. He is perfect in all of His ways,
all of His ways. And then He says this in verse
24 of Job 33. He said, deliver him. Then He is gracious and saith
unto him, deliver him from going down to the pit. Oh my, the pit. You know how many times the pit
is used in the scriptures? God even told told Abraham, look
under the pit from which you dig. Joseph was put in a pit. When
they wanted to punish somebody, they put them in a pit and they
couldn't get out of that pit. David said, deliver. Oh God,
deliver me. Thank you for delivering my feet
from a miry clay, from the pit. And when Jeremiah was put in
a pit, He could not, they had to lower him down with ropes
into that pit. And somebody else would have
to go down in that pit and deliver him up with the same way they
put him down there. And he stood down there in this
old miry clay, in this old muddy clay, where the rain would get
down there. And when they put Joseph in a
pit, the only way they found him was they said, well, we'll
sell him to the Midnight's, and the Midnight's went in there
and brought him up out of the pit. Now we is in a pit. First pit we is in was sin. How do you get out of the pit
of sin? Can you crawl out? Can you climb
out? Can you find a way out? Can you
get a ladder down there and climb your way out from sin? How you
gonna save yourself from sin? In that pit of sin. And then
sin works death. How you gonna, can you climb
your way out of death? Can you work your way out of
death? Is there a ladder that can be let down that you can
crawl your way out of death? Oh, what about the pit of morality? Oh Lord, this is a great one. And people equate Christianity
and equate American with being Christian and patriotic with
morality. And you know when it talks about
being righteous, it means that you gotta be right every day
of your life. Everything you do has got to
be done exactly right. And if you fail one time, then
you're in the pit and you can't get out. Can't get out. What
about the pit of self-righteousness? A self-righteous man came to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, good master, good master,
not Lord, Not Savior, not Redeemer, not God. Good Master, what good
thing must I do to be saved? Our Lord said, well, you know
the law. Oh, he said, ha, listen, I've
done all that. I've done every bit of that.
He said, well, you really want to be saved? Get rid of everything
you got, every single thing you got, and follow me. Now you reckon
we've ever done that, gave everything we've got? That fellow went away, he went
away so sorrowful and so sad, because he didn't want to give
up what he had. And that's that self-righteousness.
Oh my. And I'll tell you something,
people are headed to the pit, but God says, deliver him. Deliver him from going down to
the pit, going down. And there's three things about
this deliverance that God said deliver him from going down to
the pit. The first thing is this, I found a ransom. I found a ransom. You know what ransom is? That's
a price to be paid to set somebody free. And God said, I found the
ransom. That fella didn't find it. He
didn't even know it was there. He was going down to the pit
and God said, deliver him, save him, get him up. So I found a ransom. There's
a price for his freedom. There's a price to pay to keep
him from going down to the pit. And he said, I found it. And
you know what ransom is? It means an atonement. It means
an atonement. And God said, Christ is our atonement. There was a great day of atonement
in Israel on the day. One day a year, they'd have the
day of atonement. And the only person done anything
that day was the high priest. Nobody else done a thing. And
that's the way it was with us. Christ did it all. Christ was our high priest. He
did the work, He paid the debt, He shed His blood, and He ascended
into glory to deliver us from going down to the pit. And I'll
tell you what, an atonement, and what an atonement does, it
covers the sin, hides it from the face of the person that's
offended. It satisfies him. And God said, deliver him, I
found a ransom. And you know what our Lord Jesus
said about Himself? I give myself a ransom. a ransom,
not for everybody, a ransom for many. And he said, I found a
ransom, found a ransom. Here's the second thing about
this deliverance. Look in verse 24 again. Then
he is gracious unto him. Then he's gracious unto him. Oh, I love that word, grace. That's the most wonderful word.
Oh, what a precious word. He is gracious unto him. And
graciousness means free favor, unmerited. His fellow didn't
deserve this at all. Oh, he is gracious unto him.
Now this person he's gracious to is foul. Oh my, full of sin,
blackness, darkness, huh? I'll be gracious unto him. He
didn't say I will deal with him in justice. He didn't say I'll
accuse him. He didn't say I'll condemn him.
He didn't say I would punish him. He said, I'll be gracious
unto him. I'll be gracious unto him. Oh,
he could have said, depart from me. And one of these days, he's
gonna say that. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never
knew you. But he said, I'll blot out your transgressions. I'll
cast him as far as east is from the way. And he says, come, instead
of depart. And he said, I'll be gracious.
And here's the third thing about grace, it's deliverance, being
delivered from going down to the pit. Grace means interference,
saving interference. And one thing man absolutely
hates is that God cannot interfere. He will, and preachers will tell
people that God won't interfere in your life. I'll tell you what,
he interfered in this fella's life. Has he ever interfered
in your life? And that's what's gotta happen,
that's what grace means, that God savingly will interfere in
your life. That's why this fella was on
his way, he would put him in, deliver him, going down to the
pit. Oh my, that means that God interferes. God interferes. God performs
a divine operation upon the wheel. He interferes in a man s life,
and if He don t interferes in a man s life, that man s going
to perish, and it went on down to the pit. But God interferes. He performs a divine operation,
and the first thing He does, He operates on the wheel. God
won t interfere in your wheel. If He don t interfere in your
wheel, you re gone, Jesse. I ll tell you that. He interferes
in your affections. He interferes in your understanding.
And what He does, He changes the will, He changes the affections,
He changes your understanding, and He changes them. In the day
of His power, you know what it says? His people, what are they
made to do? Willing. Anybody here come to
Christ unwillingly? You know why you come willingly?
Because He said, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and CAUSES
to approach unto thee, huh? Oh, it's like Jacob. When God
got ahold of Jacob and Jacob said, I'm not gonna let you go,
God said, our Lord said this. He said, after he, he said, the
first thing I'm gonna do, Jacob, is I'm gonna change your name
from Jacob to Israel. That's the first thing God does.
He changes us. And then the second thing was,
he walked, he affected his thigh, throwed it out of joint, and
he walked different all the days of his life. Did he walk perfectly? No. But God gave him a new name. God gave him a new walk. God
gave him a new nature. And that's what God does for
us. When God in graciousness comes to a man, He not only does
something for him, He does something in him. What Christ done on the
cross, he does something for us, and the Holy Spirit comes
and does something in us, what Christ did for us on the cross.
He works what Christ did in us. Oh my. And I tell you, you know
what? We had a stony heart. He takes
out that heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. It can be
touched, can be moved. He takes that stubborn will and
makes it bow gladly. He takes that stiff neck and
calls it to bend. And then makes him new. Look
what it says in verse 25. His flesh should be fresher than
a child's. He's made new, he shall return
to the days of his youth. He makes him so new that God
says, you're like a baby. He said, you're like a new child.
He said, I'm gonna make you like you never was. I'm gonna make
you like you was. I'm gonna restore. Oh my. And I'll tell you why it's like
Naaman. When Naaman went down to the desert, Water, the scripture
says His flesh, you know, He had all that leprosy. And He
went down and He dipped in that water seven times. When He come
back, the scripture said His flesh was as the flesh of a child,
flesh of a child. Now, I want you to go with me
to Colossians. Won't you see another one? Colossians
chapter one. In the New Testament over here,
Colossians chapter one. Ephesians Philippians Colossians
But thank God that God interferes I Found a ransom God interferes in a man's life
And once he started interfering in a man's life God Everybody
that he's ever feared in fear the right they keep saying Lord
keep on interfering That's what we sung this morning. Pass me
not, O gentle Savior. Oh, I ain't got nothing. You
know, when I sing that, hear my humble cry, you know what
I say? Hear my feeble cry. There's lots of times I call
on Him when I'm not humble. I call on Him to make me humble. I say, Lord, hear my feeble cry. Because the best prayer ever
prayed had such feebleness in it, such sin in it. Hear my feeble
cry. It is feeble, ain't it? It's
feeble. Then look over here in Colossians
1, 12 and 13 with me. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be a partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son. He not only delivered us from
going down to the pit, but here it says he delivered us from
darkness, from the power of darkness. Ain't that what it says? The
power of darkness. Darkness has a power. Darkness
means many things in the scriptures, means many things in God's Word.
Darkness means sorrow, weeping, walking in darkness. Walking
in darkness. We walked in darkness. It means
dark. It means gloomy. It means being
down. Being in the darkness of ignorance. Satan is called the prince of
darkness. Our Lord said in John 3, said
men love darkness rather than the light. When it's dark, it's
time to go to bed. And you know, when the scripture
says they done their deeds in the darkness, where people think
they can't be seen. They do deeds in the drunk, drunkenness
in the darkness, darkness when asleep. But listen to what it
says, when God commanded the light to shine out of the darkness,
where'd he shine it at? into our hearts. Why? To make God's glory seen in the
only place it can be seen at, in his blessed son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what he says here. Oh,
now we can't bring light. When it's dark, you can turn
on a light, but when the electricity's off, you've got to use a candle
or a lantern. A lantern. But you cannot create
light. You can't make it. When God makes
it dark, you cannot turn on the light. When you're in darkness,
you can't turn on the light. When you're in darkness, you
can't get out of it. We can't bring light. We can't
save ourselves from this darkness. When I was in the Marine Corps,
you'd have to set watch at night. Everybody had to set two to four
hours. You know, it would take time about. And it would be so
dark. That's why they'd send up a flare
every once in a while to make things light up so you could
see. As dark as somebody could walk right up to you and you'd
never know it, because you couldn't see them. You'd put your hand
on your nose and you couldn't see it. You know what darkness is? It's
the absence of light. It's the absence of light. So
how in the world are we going to get out of this darkness?
Giving thanks unto the Father. We can't bring light. We can't
save ourselves from this darkness. But look who has delivered us
from the power of darkness. God interfered. Here s God interfering
again. Here s God interfering in these
people s lives. Huh? God said, Deliver Him. Deliver Him from what? The power,
the might, the strength, the ability of darkness. And look
what it says. A statement of accomplishment
says, Giving thanks unto the Father which hath. That means
it s done deal. That means it s in the past tense.
Huh? Who did this? The Father did. Who's the Father? Our Father. We're His children. We belong
to Him. And He gonna do for His children
what He don't do for anybody else in this world. When He says,
our Father hath delivered us, giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath, which hath. And that's the one most wonderful
thing about this salvation that we have. When you read about
it, it's always something that's already done. The gospel don't tell you to
do anything, it tells you what's already been done. That's what
makes it good news. There's no good news in telling
somebody that they need to do something. They gotta do this,
they gotta do that. When we sung that song Legal Convictions,
you know what a legal conviction is? That means I'm gonna quit
doing something. I've got to quit this thing,
I've got to quit that thing, I've got to get rid of my television,
I've got to quit my smoking, I've got to quit my drinking.
It means I've got to get a haircut, I've got to change the way I
dress, I've got to change the way... And that's legal convictions. That means that you've got to...
And you know the only thing that can save you from trying to be
saved by doing things? And once God saves you, you quit
trying to do anything, and you get grieved in yourself because
you don't trust Christ as much as you'd love to. Ain't that
right? You don't come to Him, oh, listen.
If God hadn't interfered, he said, listen, he's in darkness,
but I'm gonna deliver him. I'm gonna deliver him. Where
you gonna bring him to? I'm gonna bring him, listen to
this now. He said He delivered us from the power of darkness. Oh my, we give thanks where there
was darkness, now there's light. There's despair, now there's
hope. Sin, now there's salvation. And
where did He bring us to? The kingdom of His dear Son,
the Son of His light. You know where is the Son of
His love? That's where light is. The only light, our Lord
said, he that follows me, he ain't gonna walk in darkness.
The man that follows me, he walks in the light. You know why he
walks in the light? Because Christ is light. Listen, if it wasn't for Christ,
we'd be the dumbest, miserablest, legalist, self-righteous bunch
of Pharisees you ever seen, or we'd be back out in the world,
one or the other. But God said, I'm gonna save him. I'm gonna
save him from this darkness. They loved it once, but now they
hate it. And I tell you what, you know
why they don't want to, they want to stay in the darkness?
Because if they come over here where the light's at, and where
the light's at, it exposes their evil deeds, it exposes their
sin, exposes their heart, exposes their falseness, exposes everything
wrong with them. And that's what God did when
He delivered us and brought the light, He EXPOSED US! He EXPOSED
US! You ever went in a basement and
you get down there and you're rumbling around and you get cobwebs
all over you and all that stuff and you hear things down there?
And you don't know what it's like, but if you had a light
down there, you look down there, you say, my goodness, this is
one of the nastiest things I've ever seen. Just look at all these
bugs, and look at all this nastiness, and look at all these, and I
tell you what, that's why God chose us. He said, look at all
that nastiness, look at all that, look at all that death, look
at all that rottenness and all that corruptness. Oh, ain't you
glad he turned on the light? Ain't you glad he, here's over
here in this darkness, and God said, I'm gonna bring him over
here and put him in the light. And once you're in that light,
you wanna stay where it's light. You don't want no darkness no
more. You don't want no more darkness. Ain't that right? Oh,
his power, his love, his grace is in the kingdom of the son
of his love. Now, turn back over here with
me to 2 Corinthians. Back over to 2 Corinthians 1. Commissioner, we're talking about
deliverance. Thy God will deliver thee. Salvation. That's what deliverance means. To be saved. To be delivered. Look what it says here now. In 2 Corinthians 1.8. For we would not, brethren, have
you ignorant of our trouble. which come to us in Asia, that
we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that
we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death
in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in
God, which raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a
death, and doth deliver us in whom we trust, that he will yet
deliver us. HAS DELIVERED US, DOES DELIVER
US, AND WILL DELIVER US. There s three tenses of salvation
here, HAS, DOES, and WILL. He HAS SAVED US, He IS SAVING
US, and He WILL FULLY AND FINALLY SAVE US. And that s what Paul
said there, he said, I would not have you to be ignorant of
our trouble. There s folks that are not here today because they
have trouble. Trouble with their bodies. Trouble with weakness. Troubles
with sickness. And we're not ignorant of the
fact that we have trouble in this one. Scott Richardson was
exactly right. A believer's warned of three
places all the time. He's either in trouble, coming
out of trouble, or going into trouble. And that's just the
way life is. But ain't you grateful that we
have God? And He says, I promise, I will
deliver you. I do deliver you, and I'm gonna
eventually save you completely, huh? Oh, we have trouble? Oh, trouble. We have sorrow? Oh, my. We have tears? We're
weary? We are men and we're touched
by these things. Touched by trouble. Touched by
anxiety. Touched by fears. Touched by
all the things that happen to us in this life. Touched by them. And I tell you, God, thank God
that He gave us a heart that can be touched with these things.
And that's why it's such a blessed thing that when you have so much
trouble, you can really relate with people that's in trouble.
You go through some real trials and troubles yourself, and then
when you see somebody else go through them, you can really,
really, really understand what they're going through. You really
can. But if you've never been in trouble,
If you've never had a heartache, if you've never shed tears, if
your heart's never been broken, if you've never been in trouble,
if you've never had such sorrow upon sorrow and worry, worry,
worry, I feel sorry for you. I do. But oh my, we have troubles
and we're gonna have them. People, I tell you, I get texts
and I get calls and I get things all the time, said, you know,
Preacher, would you pray for me? But people called the other
night talking about some trouble that they've got. Oh, listen, people have trouble. And he says, we're pressed out
of measure. Well, when somebody's in trouble, who's going to get
them out of it? I can't get myself out of trouble. We're talking
about soul troubles, heart troubles, mind troubles. We're not talking
about troubles being put in jail and somebody paying you bond.
That's not the kind of trouble we're talking about. Oh my, but
he said we was pressed out of measure. We can't save ourselves.
This trouble's so great, what are we gonna do about it? It's
above our strength. It's above our strength. And
Paul said we even got to the place we despaired. Despair, and I had such despair.
And then he said, I got in such a sad state, I said to myself,
I cannot trust in myself at all. I can't trust in myself. I was
just, listen, if I try to save myself, then death is all I see. And oh my. And he said, you know what? I
said, we're not gonna trust in ourselves. I'm not gonna trust
myself to get me out of trouble I'm in. I'm not gonna trust myself. I'm not gonna trust myself. But he said, I'll tell you who
I'm gonna trust. He said, but God. But God. You know how many times in the
scriptures it says, but God. We're dead in trespass and sin,
but God. But God. But God. And look what it says, which
raises the dead. All right, we have sins of death
in ourselves, but listen, God raises the dead. He raised His Son from the dead,
if He raised Him from the dead, we're gonna trust God. Whatever
happens, whatever happens, whatever trouble, whatever heartache,
whatever sorrow, when we're above measure, when we're in despair,
when we can't do anything, Do anything. But we say, but God. Oh my. But we should not trust
in ourselves. But who are we going to trust
yet? God. But God. And listen to this. Here we go
again. It's in the past tense. Who hath
delivered us. Hath saved us. And oh my. And then look what he said. Of
so great a death. Oh, what a death we had. What
a death we had. We can't undo that. He raised
the dead, so he has no problem in delivering us. And we don't
have to go read how-to books either. A lot of folks, you know
how to do this and how to do that. They got these things on
how to trust God. how to live a godly life, and
how to be sanctified, and how to, you know, how to everything. But Paul didn't say, he said,
the only thing I know to do is, but God. I trust God. I trust God. Huh? And it says,
He does who has delivered us from so great a death. And then
look what else says, He does deliver us. does save us. How many times have we been saved
since we've been believers? How many times have we been saved? Huh? How many times have we asked
God to save us? How many times say, Lord, don't
let me be deceived. I want to be saved. I want to know Christ, I don't
want to be deceived, Lord, save me, save me, save me. And oh my, then he says, who
does deliver us? Oh my, he saves us every day,
every day. There's no telling how many times
that God has done things for us that we wasn't even conscious
of or aware of. and his providence delivering
us from certain things that would certainly happen had he not.
It's like, folks, you know when you get in an automobile and
you're going to go very far, you're taking your life in your
own hands the way people drive now. I mean people go, phew,
get right up to your bumper. And they can't stand it if you
don't get So that's why when you get in
an automobile, Lord protect me. Preserve me. Keep me. Huh? We
was on an airplane one time and there was four or five of us
preachers on it. And four or five grace preachers. Me and Paul Mahan and Todd Nybert
and Oh, I can't remember the other ones anyway. One of them
fellas says, there ain't no way in the world this plane can crash.
God wouldn't kill five preachers at the same time. I said, well,
well, you listen. He could have. He could have. You know, well, I don't care where I go.
If the Lord ain't going to go with me, I don't want to go.
Ain't that right? I don't wanna get in a car, I
don't wanna get in a plane, don't wanna get in a train. I don't
want to come here unless God goes with me. Do you? We gotta
have him, gotta have him. And oh, look what he says. And
we trust, look what he goes on saying, we trust that he will
yet deliver us. Not only we trust that he has
and that he does, but bless his holy name. We're looking forward
to our, Me and Bruce Crabtree talked about it yesterday. When
we receive the end of our faith, what is it? The salvation of
our souls. Christ will appear without sin
as a sacrifice and will save us. We'll be, as old Barnard
used to say, we'll be plumb saved then. And I tell you, he will deliver
us. Has God ever failed us? Has he not been faithful? Oh, why do we trust God who delivered
us? Because you know what God did
for us? Romans 8.32. You don't have to
look at it, but look in Psalm 22. Let me take just a few more
minutes here if I can. Psalm 22. How could God deliver
us and save us and do it in a way that honors Him? that glorifies
Him, like King Darius. He couldn't break His law, so
what did God do? How did God do it justly? Christ
was delivered up for us. God spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up, offered Him up. Look what He says here now. Christ was delivered for us.
My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me? And in the margin it says, My
salvation. And from the words of my roaring.
O God, I cry in the daytime, but you hear me not. And in the
night season am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that
havest the praise of Israel. This is why God didn't hear him.
Look what He said, Our fathers trusted in thee, and they trusted,
and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were
delivered. They trusted in thee, and were
not confounded. But I am a man, I'm a worm. Oh
my goodness. I'm a worm. That's what Christ
says about Himself. I'm a worm. And no man, I'm a reproach of
men, and despised of the people. All that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they
shake the head. He trusted on the Lord that he
would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
delighteth in him. Now look down verse 20. God did
save him. deliver my soul from the sword,
my darling, my only one from the power of the dog. He was forsaken, not delivered,
not safe from agony. Why? That God would say, deliver
him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. He delivered us from the power
of darkness. He delivered us from so great
a death. And He does deliver us and will yet save us. How'd
He do it? He spared not His own Son, but
delivered us up for us all. And the next word says, will
He not freely, freely give us all things in Christ? Our Lord, thank you. Thank you
for allowing us to worship here this morning. Thank you for your
precious, precious gospel. What a blessed gospel you give
us. What a precious truth you teach us. And Lord, I'm so thankful
you taught us these things and done these things for us. What
we could not do for ourselves and did not have sense enough
to do anything for ourselves. Oh, we tried. Oh, Lord, how we
tried. And we found out that we were
helpless and hopeless until you came and delivered us, come and
delivered us, saved us from this world and all that's in it, from
this present evil world. God, we bless you for saving
us, delivering us, and offering up your Son for us in our room
and stand. So now we can freely come to
the throne of grace, obtain mercy to help in the time of need.
God bless this word to the heart, minds, and understandings. Lord,
you use it to your glory and our good. We ask these things
in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Turn your eyes upon
Jesus Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth
will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace
I see tonight six o'clock God willing What happened? Anybody else? We have a huge, a huge number
of friends. We have a huge, a huge number
of friends. Okay.