Psalms number 107, the 107th
Psalm. And I wanna read verses 13 to 15, just for
a start. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distress. Excuse
me, distresses. There's always more than one.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and break
their bands asunder. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. Now, this is sort of a continuation
of my sermon from last week. It became him. So this can be,
it became him too. But subtitle is The Lord Brought
His People. Because what it became our Lord
Jesus Christ to do was in bringing many sons unto glory. Now, whenever you deal with salvation,
if you're honest, okay folks, for preachers that's a real big
if, most of them. But if you're really honest and
scriptural, You can't talk about salvation without talking about
the work of God. Because it's all of him. It's
his salvation, he purposed it, he planned it, he provided it,
and he gives it to his people. From beginning to end. And that's
what it became him in bringing many sons unto glory. So, I wanted
to look this up and I did. Found these, I've got four things
here. that the Lord brought his people,
okay? First one is this, he brought
them out, he brought them low, he brought them up, and he brought
them forth. Or he brought them into. I like that, I like that. So
the first one is here in Psalm 107, verse 14. He brought them out of darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder. Folks, that's freedom. And the
only freedom we ever have is in the Lord. And it's from the
Lord, it's the work of the Lord, and he does it for us. He does
it to us. I like that, I like that. You
know why? Because I was thinking about
that thing the other day. That's both our position and our condition. It's both. Sometimes it is. But here it is, the children
of God, the people of God, his people are brought out of darkness,
okay? And the shadow of death. But
here's the thing, folks. In order to be brought out of
something, you gotta be in it. We were in darkness. That was
our position and our condition also. We were in darkness. Because this is where all believers
were at one time. That's why he has to bring us
out. Oh, I like that. And I'm gonna
tell you something, folks, being brought out may not be the most
pleasant experience you ever have, but you will be so glad
for it. You'll be happy in it. But this
is where we all were at one time. We were unable to see the light,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You understand? Christ said it
himself. Men love darkness rather than
the light. That's where we were. That's
where we were. But here it is. He, well, who's
that he? Then they cried unto the Lord,
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. He brought them
out of darkness and the shadow of death. Oh, I like that. This is God's work. You understand? This is God's work. And our Lord Jesus Christ calls
us by name. He calls us by name. And I'm
gonna tell you something, folks. Those whom he calls hear his
voice. And you know what happens, right?
John five and verse 25, I love this verse, I can't help it.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is. 2,000 years ago, he's talking
about it. And now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. And I'm gonna tell you something,
that's eternal life. God don't give you half-life.
No, he gives you eternal life. What? To as many as the Father
gave to him. That's what he says. Oh, I like that. Guess what? Those that hear shall live are
in darkness no more. No more, they've been called
out of darkness. The dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God. Dead in trespasses and in sin,
dead spiritually, however you wanna put it, folks, totally
depraved. Now I'm still depraved, but thank
God I'm not in darkness anymore. I'm not in darkness anymore.
Oh, I like that. He brought us out. He delivered
us. And I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. His deliverance is eternal. Eternal. Because why? His life
that he gives is eternal life. Everlasting life. Oh my. And I'm gonna tell you something
else. And I've said this before, I'll say it again. Believers
are the only people who know both darkness and light. Oh, my. Because you know what
you were like before? Before God called you, you didn't
care a whit for him. You might have paid lip service.
You might have felt guilty if you got caught. Not that I ever
got caught doing anything wrong because I didn't do it. Yeah,
never mind. I don't believe that. I'm not going to tell you what
I did. I don't want to know what you did. But I know you did it. And I'm gonna tell you something,
we were loving the darkness rather than the light. That's part of
the thing that's kind of funny when you preach this gospel and
you talk about the work of God and the salvation of his people
and you have nothing to do with it and nobody has anything to
do with it. It's God's work, it's God's salvation, God does
it. All right? They get mad at you because you're
not giving them a chance to get something they don't want. That's the way people are, folks.
They love the darkness. Oh, mm-mm-mm, I don't believe
that God won't give me more than a 50% chance, or won't even give
me that. I know you won't. Nobody will
believe until God brings you out. That's the point here, folks.
He saved them. The Lord Jesus Christ saved his
people. He brought them out. We were
dead, and he quickened us. What's that mean? He made us
alive. Oh, what's that mean? Well, we weren't alive, and then
he made us alive. Oh, my. Delivered from darkness,
where? Into his marvelous light. Oh,
I like that part too. Oh, and he is the light. He is the light. Oh, I like that.
At one time, the gospel was hid to us. Hid to us and those who
don't believe. You know why? Satan had blinded
our minds. Our minds were blinded. What
does that mean? You're in the darkness. Because
I'm gonna tell you something, folks. Jesus Christ is the light,
and therefore, Jesus Christ controls the light. He gives it where
he will. He gives it to whom he will.
And he gives it to everyone that the Father gave to him before
the foundation of the world. Oh, I like that, I do. At one
time the gospel was hidden from us because we were lost. And
we were lost until he brought us out. He brought us out. And I'm gonna tell you something
folks, it will change you. Because now, I love the gospel
that I wouldn't give you two cents for before. He can change your want to. I like that. I want that. Well, okay. That's the way it
is. I didn't used to want it. That's
the way we are. Thank God that's the way we were. But we're not that way anymore.
Oh, I like that. Because here it is, we want to
hear the good news. We who now believe. Praise him
for his goodness. Praise him for his wonderful
works. They don't understand salvation
is a wonderful work of God. Praise him for it. No, they complain
about it. They moan about it. I was gonna
use another word, but I'm not gonna do that. They moan, they
whine. I used to have old sergeants,
and when I was in the Army, he'd look at me and say, you want
some cheese to go with that wine, boy? Hey, they don't know they're
doing it either. They don't, they don't understand. They're
gonna whine, they're gonna moan, they're gonna complain about
something they don't want because that's the way human beings are. But some of us, and I'm including
me in there, some of us, he brought them out of darkness and the
shadow of death and break their bands in sunder, you understand? There's no more bondage. That
Gadarene demoniac, you know, they put him in fetters and they
put him in chains and he broke them. I'm gonna say, what did
you have if he didn't break them? You got a demon infested guy
with chains on him. Christ set him free. Christ set
him free from the bondage, the bondage of sin, the bondage of
religion, Oh my, there's a bondage in religion. You don't do what
I say the way I say it, you're going to hell. No, if you don't
believe Christ, you're going to hell. If you don't know Christ,
if you don't love Christ, because he is our salvation. He brought us out. He brought
us out. Now the next one is in Psalms
116. Psalms 116, verse four. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is
the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. The Lord
preserveth the simple, And here we go, folks. I was brought low. I was brought low, and he helped
me. He helped me. Return unto thy
rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. Let me tell you something, folks.
I preached on this a little while back, but I'm gonna do it again.
Because it works. It works. Because after he brings
you out, he's gonna bring you low. You're gonna be brought
low. But here it is, here's the reason
why. He's gonna bring you low. Gracious
and righteous and merciful is our God. People don't understand
that having troubles, having guilt of sin is gracious. It's merciful. Oh my. He's righteous. You didn't think
I was gonna throw that at you. No, he's righteous. Oh my. He's gracious. And he's merciful.
Oh, I like that. And you know why? Because the
Lord preserved the simple. And folks, that's where we fit.
That's just it. Compared to God, everybody's
simple. Compared to God, I certainly am simple. Oh my. But here it says it. I was brought
low. I was brought low. Now, let's
be clear. I think I said this last time.
The Lord doesn't put you low. He just brings you low. You already
were low. We already were low, every single
one of us. But we didn't know it. We didn't know it. Oh my, I like
that. What's that mean? Well, he brought
me to know that I was low. He brought me to know that I
was not only guilty of sins, but that I was sin. that I am
a sinner. Because here's the thing, I remember
years, decades ago now, Henry Mahan on TV talked about sin
is what you are, sins is what you do. There's a difference. Now, you're gonna have them both.
Well, you do have both, because we are sinners. And we are sinners
because there is sin in us and on us and around us, and we wallow
in it. That's part of that being in
darkness stuff. But you don't know it. But when
he brings you low, oh, you're gonna know. You're gonna know,
I tell you. You may not want to, but you
will. And then you'll be happy about it later. Oh my, thank
God the Lord preserves the simple. You wanna know why? Because if
not, the simple perish. If you don't preserve, you perish.
That's just it. That's just it. At one time, I was so simple,
I didn't know I needed deliverance. I needed to be brought low to
see my sin. Oh, to know just a little bit.
And all we ever know is a little bit of what we do. You know? Like I said, I'm not gonna tell
you my thoughts. I don't wanna hear your thoughts as far as
that part of it goes. Because I know mine are bad enough. And
they're worse than I think they are. I mean, I am my own worst
enemy, whether I know it or not. Oh, but thank God. Why? He's
gracious, he's righteous, and he's merciful. Oh. There's no
hope in me, there's no hope in you, but there is plenteous hope
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I like that. Because here's
the thing. We need graciousness, righteousness,
and mercy. We need all three. And it comes
from him. Comes from him. It's his work,
and he brings you low. He brings you low. And I'm gonna
tell you something. brought you low. Righteousness
brought you low. And grace brought you low. All three, boom. But then we
go to the next one. This is in Psalms chapter 40.
Psalms 40. Because after you've been brought
low, verse, well, one and two. I waited patiently for the Lord
and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up. Also, out of an horrible pit,
out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings, and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise
unto our God. Many shall see it and fear, and
shall trust in the Lord. Listen, folks. After he brings
you low, He brings up. In that order. It's in that order. I didn't just make this stuff
up. It's in this order. He brought me up. He brought
you up. Listen, the Lord brought low,
the Lord brought up. That's the way it works. You
understand? Listen, who is Christ brought
up? Who is the Lord brought up? He brought the poor out of the
dust. He brought the beggar, lifted
up the beggar, what, from the dunghill. Now, can you fit into
those two categories? I can't. That's all I was. I was a poor beggar. living on the dung hill. I wasn't
looking for God, he come and found me. This is it. And he brought me out, and he
brought me low, and then he brought me up. Oh, that's the order,
folks, that's the order. And I'm gonna tell you something,
he never brings up until he's brought you low. And that's just
the facts. But, I am the Lord. I make dead. And I make a lie in that order. In that order. If you've never
been dead, if you've never been brought low, you've never been
brought up. And that's just, that's the plainest way I can
state it. But I'm gonna tell you something.
What's it say here? He brought me up out of a horrible
pit. out of a horrible pit. He brought
me up out of the deep miry clay, the miry clay, clay that sticks
to you, it sucks your boots down. If you can walk in the miry clay,
you're carrying an extra five pounds on each foot. Yeah, been
there, done that. Yeah, thanks to that sergeant
in the army. But that's the way it is, that's
the example, that's the illustration he gives here. Now listen, folks,
We were in that horrible pit, but we didn't know it until he
brought us low. We'd been in that pit all, that's why I said,
God doesn't put you low, he just brought you low. You were there
already. You just thought that was normal.
You've been in this pit all your life, you don't know anything
different. But oh, I'm telling you something,
when he brings you low, you decide, I hate to say it that way, you
decide you wanna get out. Yeah, he'll make you want to
get out of that pit you've been in your whole life. He'll make
you want to get out of that miry clay that you've been in your
whole life that you're used to. I always thought my feet weighed
that much after a while. And then after you knock that
clay off your feet, my God, it's always so much better. Once you're
out of that pit, It's so much better, oh my, because this is
the thing. You've been brought out, you've
been brought low, but here it is, you've been brought up. Up,
oh, up is good, folks, up is good. Oh, I was in that pit for
years, but he brought me up, he brought me up. I'm gonna tell
you what, and what's it mean when he brings you up? Well,
he tells us. I love this verse. He brought
me up, also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and,
you know, up's not good enough. It's good, but it's not all. And set my feet upon a rock. Oh, you know what's on a rock?
Not miry clay. There ain't no miry clay on the
rock. Not the rock Christ Jesus. Oh my, I like that. He set my
feet upon the rock, the rock Christ Jesus, and I'm gonna tell
you what, he established my goings in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Oh, I like that. He established
it. Ugh. I'm gonna tell you something. The Lord brought up his people,
and he brought them up in the way, and he set them on their
way. And you know what? Let me say,
Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. What? No man cometh to the Father
but by me. That's what he said. And you
know what? That's what he meant. What's
that mean? He's gonna bring you up. Every
one of his people, he's gonna bring them up out of the pit,
out of the miry clay, and he's gonna set their feet on a rock,
and he's gonna establish their goings. We preach about grace, we preach
about mercy, we preach about the sovereignty of God and salvation.
and in preservation and in completion, but he gives you a walk. He gives
you a walk. Read the epistles of the Apostle
Paul. There's a walk for the children
of Christ, for those that are in Christ, there's a walk. And
the only way you're gonna walk is if he establishes your goings. Oh, I like that. I need my goings
established by him, by him. Oh, I like that. He established
my goings, he set up my steps. The way is Jesus Christ. He,
the Lord, brought up his people and is bringing in many sons
to glory. Now, the last one. This is in
Psalms 18. Verse 17. He delivered me from my strong
enemy, and from them, what? Which hated me. For they were
too strong for me. They prevented me in the day
of my calamity, but. The Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into
a large place. He delivered me. Oh, I like this
part. Because he delighted in me. Mm, my goodness. Let's be clear. The Lord delivers from those
that were too strong for me. Now, when we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. That's us, folks. We've always
been without strength. The devil has always been too
strong for me. And he still is. But you understand,
please understand, He ever liveth to make intercession, what? For
us. For us. Oh my. He did deliver me from, because he's got all power. He's
got all the power. Oh, I like that. And nothing
and no one is too strong for him. We never had any strength. And the only strength we've got
now is his. His. Oh, what'd he say? The Lord was my stay, my anchor. He's the only one that let me
stay. It's his power that will keep
you in adversity and anything else. Oh, my. But listen, folks, verse 19,
He brought me forth also into a large place. Not only that, see, not only
does he deliver and he keeps, he brings you forth. He brings
you forth, he brought you forth. He brought me forth. What's that
mean? He brought you forward, forward. You understand? The Lord Jesus
Christ is not gonna move you backwards. We do that all on
our own. I don't need any help in going
backwards. I need help going forward. And he brings you forth. He brings you forth. Oh, I like
that. But it's not only that. He brings you forth in two. Ah,
what it says here? A large place. We are moving. Here it is, folks. We are moving
by him and in him. Oh, and he brought us forth where?
I'm gonna tell you something. His deliverance brought you forth
into a large place. I use another word here. An expected
end. Oh, I like that verse too. An expected end. Where we got? We have an expected end from
the thoughts of the Lord toward us. What's he say? It's in Jeremiah. Thoughts of peace. I like that. You know why? Because I know
him who is my peace. He is my peace. And he brings
you to an expected end. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
bringing in many sons, what's it say? Unto glory. Unto glory. You understand? He's
not ashamed. He calls us brethren. Brothers. Sisters. He delights in his people. He calls us brethren. He brings
us into glory. He brings us into a large place. What's that mean? Colossians
1.13 says this, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness
and hath, what? Translated us into the kingdom
of his dear son. I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, that's a large place. It's much larger than most people
think. Mm. out of darkness and into
the kingdom of his dear son. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
And yes, 2,000 years ago, he had a kingdom. People are talking
about a kingdom in the future. Well, he's got one now. He always
has had one. Where is he? They asked. That is born king. He was king
before he got here. He was king when he came here.
He's king now, and he ever will be king. And to be king, you
gotta have a kingdom. Otherwise, you're just somebody
wearing a funny hat. There are people, oh, I'm not going into
that. But anyhow, he's the king. It's
his kingdom. And his kingdom, the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a large place. Because here it
says, of his kingdom, there is no end. In that context, I know
that means time. There's no time. His kingdom
has no end. It will never end. But I'm gonna
tell you this right now. Of his kingdom, there is no end.
You can apply that to place. It's a large place. Go somewhere,
I dare you, that Jesus Christ is not king of that place. I can't do it. You can't do it. The universe is too big to run
away from him because guess what? He owns it. He owns it. What? Wait a minute. He made
it. And it was created by him and
for him. It's his universe. You know why?
He's king. His kingdom's got no end. Not in time or in place. Oh,
I like that. He brought me into a large place.
You understand, 1 Samuel chapter two and verse
eight. I was saving this part up. This
is Hannah's prayer. I'm gonna tell you something.
This is one of the finest prayers in the scripture in 1 Samuel
chapter two. But look at, well, look at verse
eight. what I talked about earlier.
He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar
from the dunghill. Ah, that's wonderful. That's
gracious, that's merciful. But he wasn't done. What's it
say? To, for the express purposes
of, to set them among princes. Oh, I like that. and to make
them inherit the throne of glory. The throne of glory. How in the
world can we inherit the throne of glory? In Christ. It's his throne and we're in
him. He's our head, we're his body. To inherit the throne of God.
to inherit the throne of glory. What does it say? He calls us
brethren. Brethren. And we are members
of his body, members in particular. Oh, I'm gonna tell you something.
He brought me forth into a large place. The Lord brings forth
his people, feet upon the rock, he establishes my goings, and
I'm going to a large place. I'm going to his place. That's
what it is. He raised the poor out of the
dust. He lifted up the beggar from
the dunghill to set them among princes. Oh, I like that. That's gracious. That's mercy,
and that's righteousness. His righteousness, not ours,
his righteousness. A good place, a large place. because it's his place in love,
in grace, in righteousness, and in mercy. Oh, he brought us forth
into a large place. Listen, folks. The Lord brought
out, the Lord brought low, the Lord brought up, and the Lord
brought into. Salvation is of the Lord. It's his work. Every bit of it. We experience it somewhat. But he's gonna bring you out,
he's gonna bring you low, he's gonna bring you up, and he's
gonna bring you into, or you're not gonna be brought. It's his
work from beginning to end. I got this from A song from Charles Wesley. It's
in Gatsby's, but I don't remember the number. Says this, yet out
of all the Lord hath brought us by his love. And he, excuse
me, and still he doth help afford and hides our life above. Then let us make our boast of
his redeeming power, which saves us to the uttermost, till we
can sin no more. That's where I wanna go. Oh,
I like that, I do. But here's the thing, folks,
I believe this. If you know Christ, you know about being brought
out, brought low, brought up, and brought into. Because I'm
going to tell you something, folks. He doesn't just give life
and then leave you laying out there. Oh, there's a plan. It's not your plan. It's his. And he's working it every which
way. Oh my. And he is saving his people. He's bringing in many sons unto
glory. Heavenly Father, Thank you, Lord,
for so great a salvation. So great a salvation. Your son had to die for us, to
pay our debts, to pay for our guilt, to pay for our sin, our
trespasses, our iniquities. And he paid in full all things. And he brings us in as sons. He calls us brethren. Lord, thank
you so much for the gift of your son for us and to us and in us. In Christ's name we pray, amen.