Am I supposed to turn this on,
right? Okay. I'm gonna do something just a
little different. I'm gonna read you a verse, and then I'm gonna
ask you a question, I think. This is the text for the day. Come and hear. All ye that fear God and I will
declare what he hath done for my soul. I think that's just tremendous.
I think that's just amazing. But I have a question for you.
Do you have any idea who wrote that? Well, me neither. It's in Psalm
66, that's where I am. Psalm chapter 66, and it just
says, to the chief musician, a song or psalm. Got no idea
who wrote it. And here's the point. It doesn't
matter who wrote it. It's the scripture. It was actually
written, authored by God. It's God breathed. The Holy Spirit
moved on these men of old to write down what God wanted said. So it doesn't matter who wrote
it. In this case, I do enjoy, and I have my suspicions about
this psalm. I think it's David, but I think
a lot of things are David that may not be. Like I still think
Paul wrote Hebrews, even though they say, well, the language
is a little different. Well, Paul got older, what do you want?
My language is not the same of my youth. Thank God for that. My vocabulary used to be a lot
more colorful, if somewhat limited, especially when I was in the
Army. You learn all kind of things
in the Army. Thank goodness I've been trying to forget some of
them. So anyhow, this is Psalm 66 and that was verse 16. I'll read it again. Come and
hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done
for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth,
and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me. But verily, God hath heard me. He hath attended to the voice
of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not
turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. Man, that's good
stuff. That is good stuff. As you might
suspect, the title of this message is Come and Hear. Come and Hear. The first thing
I'm gonna say about this is the negative. This is a command,
it's not a request. But I just wanna point this part
out. It's not a request for you to come and talk. It's coming
here. It's to come in here. There's
lots of people who wanna come and talk. And usually they have
absolutely nothing to say. Well this man that wrote this,
whoever he is, And yes, I suppose you probably could take this
as a reference to Jesus Christ. He's got something for you to
hear. So he says, come and hear. Come and hear. What we have here
in the Psalms is the gospel in three simple words. Come and
hear. Now I'm gonna speak a lot more
than three words. But the way this psalm starts
out is this. Verse one he says, make a joyful noise unto God
all ye lands. Then somehow down into verse
16 he ends up with this, come and hear, come and hear. What
should you hear? You should hear everyone in the
land making a joyful noise unto the Lord. Unfortunately, normally
you don't. But come and hear. Come and hear. This is the message of the gospel.
This is what we tell people. Come and hear. Come and hear
the truth proclaimed. Come and hear the message, the
message, the message, one message of the Savior God. Come and hear the message of
the Lord God, the just God and the Savior. Verse two says, sing honor to
his name and make his praise glorious. Come and hear salvation
for sinners. Come and hear of the sovereign
Lord who saves his people from their sins. Verse three says this, I really
like this part. Say unto God, how terrible art
thou in thy works. How what? How terrifying. You
understand, to the average person, God is not terrible. God is not
terrifying. And that's because the average
person has no idea who God is. You understand? You read in this
book, anybody who ever met God hit the floor. On their knees. Isaiah, I saw the Lord high and
lifted up. What'd he say? Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips. But
I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips. I dwell in
the midst of a people who don't know God. Come in here, salvation for sinners. Come in here of the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. And here's this, this is what
we do. We believers, we come and we
hear what? What the Lord has done for my
soul. You understand, when I come to
hear the preaching of the gospel, I'm looking for somebody to be
describing the same thing that God did to me. It is, in the
words of Jesus, a common salvation. Okay? It is, in those same terms,
a common gospel. He is, and I don't wanna use
this, he is the singular Lord who saves. And he saves in the
same manner. Paul said what? After the pattern
of how he saved me. Now granted, God did not appear
to me while I was on a donkey on my way to Damascus. No, but
he revealed himself to me. You understand? I started to
know somebody I never knew before. Saul of Tarsus never knew God
before this. He thought he did. Studied at
the feet of Gamaliel, studied the law, a Hebrew of Hebrews,
as pertaining the law, blameless. But then when God appeared to
him, what did he say? Who are you, Lord? Who are you,
Lord? This is Saul of Tarsus. You understand? He's the poster child for telling
you that education doesn't save. Proper doctrine doesn't save. Who are you, Lord, is the one
who saves. And I'm gonna tell you, he's
one you never knew before. Even if you did know proper doctrine,
Even if you were brought up in the truth, until he reveals himself
to you, you will never come and hear. Because coming and hearing
is not a natural act of a man. It never has been. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is from the Lord. It's his gift. But this is what we do. We come
to hear. We come and hear. Now, question
is, do you want to? Most of the world does not. Most
of the world does not want to hear of this God. Or they want
to hear of a God, maybe, fine. They want to hear of their own
God. But that doesn't help anyone. Because here's that next statement
where it says come in here. The next part of this verse.
The psalmist is very, very specific here. All ye that fear God. Now here's something not spoken
of in today's religion. Fearing God. Fearing God. People think it's a bad thing
to fear. I don't wanna live in fear, and neither do I. But I'm
gonna tell you this, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God. And you will know that if it
has ever happened to you. And if you don't know that, you
best make your calling and election sure. Because God is not just
a scary concept. God is a scary person. You understand,
you come to realize that here is God somewhere, everywhere,
and you're right here. You're right here. You're less
than the small dust of the balance to where if he turns his head
and you breathe, you're gone. It don't even take a word from
God for you to be gone. All it takes is a thought. Because
his thoughts aren't our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. What
are they? They are much higher. They are
much higher. Most preach a warm and fuzzy
God who wants everybody to be saved and loves everybody and
all the world should be just sweetness and light. But he's
not and it's not. He's not sweet and fuzzy and
the world ain't sweet and fuzzy either. This world is cursed. Something else he'll make you
come to realize. See? There are some people who get
close, and I'm talking secular people, to the fact that there's
something wrong here. There's something wrong with
man. There is something wrong with
people, but they don't know what it is. We're sinners, folks. We are sinners who actually sin. Sinners is what we are, sin is
what we do. And yes, there are some good
things in this world, and I'm glad for them, but that doesn't
take away one sin. There are things that people
do that are good, as far as I can see, but my sight doesn't matter. Understand, there are people
who give to charities to make themselves feel good. That's not godly, folks. That's
selfish. If you go around and brag about
it, that's pride. You're just compounding the problem.
Now, I'm not against, you understand, Jesus Christ told us we're gonna
have the poor with us always. But that doesn't mean we can
ignore them. I mean, I'm all for giving to the poor and taking
care of people as best we can. I'm not against any of that,
but don't kid yourself that that gives you anything with God.
Because here's what the psalmist says, he wants to know who fears
God. Ah, come and hear. Who? All ye that fear God. That's where he laid it. That
condemnation that Paul quoted in Romans where he says, There
is no fear of God before their eyes. Here's the problem. They
don't know that's a condemnation either. But it is. If you don't fear God, you don't
know God. Jesus Christ said it. In one way, he said, come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Come unto me! People wanna stop there. Christ
didn't stop there. He said, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden. So, what about all those who
don't know they're laboring and don't know they're heavy laden?
He wasn't talking to you. Not there. I mean, you can say
what you want, do what you will. And people will leave parts out
of the scripture and people will add parts in. But here's the
thing, if you're not laboring and if you're not heavy laden,
Jesus Christ wasn't talking to you when he said, come unto me.
And I will give you rest. Because here's the thing, if
you're not laboring and if you're not heavy laden, you won't come
and you won't hear. That's the way it is. Like I
said, coming and hearing are not natural to man. They are
the actions from the Holy Spirit in a man. First John chapter four. I'm
gonna take a look at that for just a minute. Of course you
can't read first John chapter four without verse one. Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. Hereby, know ye the spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. God manifest in the flesh is
our Lord Jesus Christ. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and
this is that spirit of antichrist. Where have you heard that it
should come, and even now already it is in the world, and that
was going on 2,000 years ago. Do you think the world has gotten
any better, folks? No. I think it's worse. At least as far as evil men and
seducers are concerned. But here, verse six is what I
wanted to get to. We are of God. He that, what? Knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. If you won't hear the truth,
you're not a God. I don't know how I can be any
plainer than that. Because that's what he's talking about. We are
of God, he that knoweth God, heareth us. What's the beginning
of knowledge? From the scripture. The fear
of the Lord. The fear of the Lord. Come in
here, all ye that fear God. All ye that fear. Come in here. And what about
those who don't fear? They won't come and they won't
hear. I believe and categorically wanna
state that I believe Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Walter and I heard a radio broadcast
decades ago, decades ago. And some guy was telling a story
about he was preaching a message and this fella stood up in the
church and said, do you believe Jesus Christ is coming to flesh?
And he said, what? He said, do you believe Jesus
Christ is coming to flesh? Well, the answer's yes. That's all
you gotta say. Yes, I believe Jesus Christ came
in the flesh. But he played it off like, don't
ask no stupid questions. You're silly, shut up and sit
down. No, I'll answer that question. You understand, Walter and I,
I know because we've both done it and we still do it, we will
talk to those that don't fear God. If they come. But they won't hear. I'll answer
any question put to me if I can. Now if it really is a stupid
question, you might get a stupid answer. Because I'm good at those
too. But here's the thing. Coming and hearing is only for
those that fear God. This coming and this hearing. Because what does it say? All of you who have who are uncircumcised
in heart and ears do always resist the Holy Ghost. They always resist the Holy Ghost
if their hearts and their ears are uncircumcised. What's that
mean? They're not gonna hear and they're not gonna understand.
Why? Because they can't. And I can tell you this as a
child of God, there used to be a time when I couldn't understand. There used to be a time when
I wouldn't hear. And if I did hear, I didn't like
it, I didn't want it, I didn't want to come and hear. But I do wanna point out, we're
not excluding anyone. The gospel does that. The truth
will do it. Understand, Jesus Christ said,
I came to bring a division. I bring a sword. What's that
sword? His word. And his word is all
we have. It's sola scriptura. solely the
scripture. That's our only basis, authority. This is our only message. And
I refuse, as best I can, to not vary from it. There are lots
of people, if you just change a word or two, or don't use a
certain word, You know what'll happen? More will come in here.
That's what they think. But if you start preaching the
truth, unvarnished, the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ to save
his people from their sins, they won't have it. They might come, but they won't
hear. And they're not coming to him, they're coming to church. Because here's the thing, Walter
and I were texting a little bit yesterday, and he texted me back
this. And I wrote it down, Walter, because it's good. Come and hear. What does that mean, really?
It means to obey and to submit. You understand? The Lord God
from heaven said of the son, this is my beloved son, what'd
he say? Hear ye him. You understand, if you're hearing
Jesus Christ, you're gonna submit your wishes, your desire, your
will, as best as you can, but you're gonna submit to him. And
what he says, that's what it means to hear. And you're coming
because he said to. You know, I'm coming of my own
free will. No, you're not, or you're not
coming. He's not gonna drag you kicking
and screaming. Well, you might scream a little at times, but
that's got nothing to do with this. This is the thing. He's
gonna draw you. What was it? With everlasting,
loving kindness. I'll draw you. Oh, I like that. But come, obey the Lord. Come
to him. And hear him. Hear him. Listen, comprehend. Submit your understanding to
his understanding. It's a hard thing to do at times.
It is. But I like to do it. I'd like to do it more, Walter.
I'd like to submit my will more. Like we said a few weeks ago,
I want to be a better man. I'd like to be a better man. But I'm still me. But thank God,
he's still him. He's still Christ. And you understand,
no matter what I want, no matter what I will, no matter what I
do, nevertheless, he will never leave me nor forsake me. Now buddy, that's a blessing.
That's a blessing. Understand, that's what, well,
if you do this, you'll be lost. Uh-uh, he ain't never lost anything.
And he ain't never lost anyone. And he never will. And everyone
he calls, he tells them, come and hear. Obey and submit, both. But here, what the psalmist says,
and I will declare what he hath Done. You understand? The message is never, never,
never look what I've done for God. Now that's the message of preachers
all around us. But that's not the message of
the psalmist. That's not the message of grace.
I wanna know what he's done. I don't care what you've done.
Nothing personal. not being facetious, not being
flippant, but I come to hear what he's done. The child of God doesn't say
this. He also doesn't say, let me tell you what you can do for
God. Because I can tell you this right
now, you can't do anything for God. And I don't care what some
preacher says, he doesn't need your hands, he doesn't need your
feet, and he doesn't need your mouth. Now he may be pleased
to use all three, but he don't need them, folks. Our Lord is
God. Jesus Christ is God Almighty,
manifest in the flesh, ascended up into heaven. He doesn't need
us, we need him. Quit trying to bribe people in
to make them feel good for doing something for God. No, tell them
they're wretches undone without his sovereign grace. Jesus Christ has no needs. But
I'm here by his grace to declare what he hath done. I'll give you just a little bit
of it. Substitution. Sacrifice. Redemption. Salvation. Righteousness. Justification. Now those are
all fine, big words. But that ain't even the half
of it. What do you gotta say? Come in here. All you gotta get's
a little bit at a time. Because all we got is this allotted
amount of time and all we've got is this allotted amount of
brains. We can't hold that much. And we certainly can't speak
it without him at all. But there's some small words
that I wanna tell you about too. If there is such a thing. Grace,
mercy, life, love, Guidance, guidance, comfort, peace, and
saved. Understand? All of those words,
the big ones and the little ones, guess what? That's what he's
done for my soul. And I'm not bragging, except
if I'm bragging on him. None of it's me. Not substitution,
not sacrifice, not redemption, not salvation, not mercy, grace,
none of it's me. It's all him. It's all him. I wanna know what he's done.
That's what I come to hear, is what he's done. Don't tell me
what I've done, I know what I've done. I really don't need all
that rubbed back in my face. Okay, sometimes you can, I'll
let Walter do it. Y'all leave me alone. But this
is the way it is, you know? People come to be cheered up.
Listen, if coming here doesn't cheer you up, there's something
wrong with you. You understand? The child of God loves the gospel. You know why? Because it's about
him. It's about him. The gospel's
not about me. It's about him. and what he has
done, wait a minute, for my soul. For my soul. We're talking serious
business here. But I'm gonna tell you this,
it's a joyous business if you fear God. If you fear God. The world is boring and depressing.
Y'all preach the same thing all the time. Yes, we do. Because
hopefully, by his grace, we preach the same Christ every Sunday.
And every day at work if we get a chance. And every day with
our family if we get a chance. Because here, I will declare
that he has saved me, the sinner. I will declare that he brought
me to my knees before his feet. Come in here, come in here. I
will declare that he chose me and love me from before the foundation
of the world. Come and hear. Come and hear
that. I will declare that he has his
remnant in this world right now according to the election of
grace. Yeah. I'll declare what he's
done. I will declare that he has saved
sinners and I'll also declare he continues to do so. Come in
here, come in here. Because I'm not really here to
share my life with you. Although sometimes you get a
few bits of it because it bleeds out. I'm talking from my experience,
you know? But that's not why I'm here,
I do want to as best as I can, share the blessings of Christ
has given me. And he's given me it all. And
he's given you it all, if you fear the Lord, if you fear God. Because I want you to know this
Christ also. because it's a lot more fun having
a conversation with somebody who knows the Christ of God than
with somebody who doesn't. And that's just the way it is.
And that doesn't even matter if we're talking football. It's just best to talk to your
brother and your sister. Best to talk amongst family.
Come in here and I will declare what He has done, and like I
said, for my soul, for my soul. You know what those three words
for my soul mean? Well, what they mean to me is
the health and wealth gospel is a waste of breath. Because
that's not what you're supposed to come and hear. The big money,
oh the seed money gospel, that's an abomination. That's what it
is. Sorry if you like them people,
that's your problem, not mine. You gotta talk to the TV every
now and then. It's there. And that probably won't make
it, I don't know how long I've been doing this. It don't matter. Don't go there
and don't listen. Because I wanna declare what
he's done for my soul. And I want to hear what he's done for somebody
else's soul. Because I'm willing to bet this,
if it's the same Christ, he did the same thing. You understand,
I can identify with the apostle Paul's conversion. Saul of Tarsus. What do you say? There were people
around me. They saw the light, but they
didn't hear the voice of him that spoke to me. Right there. He wasn't riding
to Damascus on a donkey by himself. There was a caravan or whatever.
There was a party. I don't think he was going there
to put people in jail by himself either. I'd say he had some armed
backup. But guess what? None of them
heard a word when God was speaking to Saul of Tarsus. I know exactly
what that feels like. I didn't see no light like that.
I didn't hear a voice in my ear. But I remember being backed into
a corner And I told you this, Walter, years ago, I had nowhere
else to go. This man here, and this book,
with his word in it, and the little bit of preaching that
I had heard, scared me. You know why it scared me? Because
it told me of the Lord. I wasn't scared of the guy preaching
it. I wasn't scared of the book.
I was reading the thing. but I was scared of what he was
talking about. The child of God will tell you
of the spirit of bondage unto fear. And if you fear God, you're gonna
know a little bit about what he's talking about. I'll tell
you what he's done for my soul. He made me fear, and then he
gave me the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. We get the spirit of bondage
under fear once. And after that, no more. It doesn't
say anything more about it. But now the spirit of adoption
whereby you can cry Abba, Papa, Father. So what's the conclusion of this
whole matter? Verse 20, bless be God. You can add anything else you
want to. Because you understand, before you get to this point,
verse 10 says, for thou, O God, hath proved us. Thou hath tried
us as silver is tried. Thou hast brought us into the
net. Thou laidest affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused
men to ride over our heads. We went through the fire and
through water, but, Thou brought us out into a, I like this, a
wealthy place. Then he goes on, I'll pay my
burn offerings. I'll make the sacrifices. Why?
That's the picture of Christ to God. Then he says, come in
here. You wanna know why? because now
I got something to say. And here it is. Bless be God. Bless be God, which hath not
turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. I said it a little while ago.
I will never leave thee, no, never forsake thee. So here's the thing. Come in
here. Blessed be God. Because if blessed
be God is not the message, I don't want to know about it. Because
he's just wasting my time. I want to know the good things
he's done for my soul. I want to come and I want to
hear. And by his grace, I shall. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for this time and this place. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your gospel. Help us to receive it and hear
it and understand it. Lord, we'll give you all the
praise and all the glory for it's all your work through your
Son, our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen.