If you would, please turn to
Psalms 130. A Song of Degrees. And I still
haven't looked that up to see what that means. But I like this
psalm. The 130th psalm beginning in
verse one. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord,
my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth
for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say
more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope
in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy. And with him
is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities. I'm gonna put that one right
in the running with one of the best psalms ever written, I'm gonna
tell you. This hit me awfully hard. Like I said in the psalms,
I said it last week, in the psalms you get a little bit of everything
and a whole lot of Christ. You see him in picture, you see
him in type, you see him in his very words are in here that he
quoted later on. No, he didn't quote him, he said
him. They're quoting him here. You gotta get the horse before
the cart. And believe me, folks, we're
the cart, we're not the horse. We are never the horse. We don't
do the pulling, we're just along for the ride. But if it's God's
cart and the right horse, you're going the right direction. Anyway,
last week I spoke about out of the depths have I cried unto
thee, O Lord, basically the first Three verses, four verses. I
mentioned the fourth verse. Because this is where the child
of God starts in his experience. Now this is not where it starts
in God's sight. In God's sight it started long
before the world ever was. We were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. But we were also brought to see
We were in the depths. Or, we don't know anything about
Jesus Christ. I was listening to a recording
on the way up here this morning from Henry Mahan. The one problem,
the problem with preaching today, and he's preaching this 20 years
ago, 30 years ago. Because I remember hearing it
a long time ago. It's from the 80s anyway. And he says the problem
with it is, we got people being found that ain't never been lost. We got people who are healed
who were never wounded. We got people saved who've never
been sinners. Who've never known they are sinners. They're sinners all, we all are,
yes. But here, this psalmist, when
he wrote this, he wrote, out of the depths I cried. Therefore
he knew he was in the depths. Like I said, it's a small point,
but my goodness, that's a puzzle to the world. Because they don't
understand. Unless he brings you out of the
depths, unless he brings you out of the horrible pit, not
just a pit, a horrible pit, you're still in it. You're still there. And you're not gonna cry until
you realize you are there. and you're not gonna realize
without the Holy Spirit who convinces of sin. That's what he does. Who's he convince? God's people. God's people. It doesn't work
that well on the world, I'll tell you folks. It doesn't. I was there for 23 years, trust
me. I felt bad about some things
I did, Walter, but that didn't stop me from doing them. And
that didn't mean that I knew they were sin. I just thought
maybe I shouldn't bother to do it. That's the way we are, folks. I was in a pit and too dumb to
know it. Well, too dead to know it, was my problem. God, Jesus Christ, God manifest
in the flesh, came to this earth to save sinners. I didn't come to call the righteous.
Now there is none righteous, no not one. But I can tell you
this, there's a lot of people who think they are. That's not
who he came to save. He came to save these that are
crying out of the depths. Anyhow, I preached that last
week. And I ended with, if thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? And the answer
to that is no one. Not if the Lord marks iniquity.
The only one who did stand was Jesus Christ. But, and I said
it last week, I'm gonna say it again, because I think this is
a wonderful thing. When our Lord, God, laid on him the iniquity
of us all, he didn't stand, he died. He died. Now, none of that iniquity was
his. There were no offenses, no trespasses,
no sins by our Lord Jesus Christ. He knew no sin. But he was made
to be sin for us. And when the Lord marked that
iniquity in him, he died. He died. And you know what happened
when he died? Plenteous redemption. And that's
where I'm headed. I'm trying to get there. But
I wanted to say this, because this is the point. If the Lord
should mark iniquity, who should stand? I'll tell you this right
now, and I said it last week, I'll say it again. I will. I'm
gonna stand. You know why? Because the Lord
marked my iniquity in him. And if he marked your iniquity
in him, You're gonna stand. Because the Lord shall not remember
those sins anymore. He's promised that too in his
book. That's the other thing Henry Mahan talked about. The
people are leaving out of present day preaching 30 years ago. Guess
what, they're leaving out of present day preaching now. God's
love is holy. but his wrath against sin is
just as holy. It's a holy wrath against sin.
And you understand, if he marks iniquity, you ain't standing.
And if your iniquity was not laid upon him by God, we don't
lay our iniquity on Christ. We don't lay our sins on Christ.
We don't have that kind of power. But God does. And if God laid
on him, he says the iniquity of everybody? No. He says us all. He is made to be sin, who? For
us. God is always specific when it
comes to the death of his son. And the shedding of his son's
precious blood. Always. And when he marked iniquity
in his son, Christ said it from the cross. My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? I don't understand how God can
forsake God, I really don't, but here's the thing, I do know
why. Because the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. And
God marked that iniquity. And Christ died for our iniquity,
not his own. for our iniquity, for our sin,
for our offenses, for our transgressions. And obtained eternal redemption
for us. For us. Isn't that awfully specific language? The Lord has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. and he has obtained eternal redemption
for us. You know what, I suspect that
in the Old Testament and the New Testament, he's talking about
the same bunch of people that Jesus Christ died for. There's
an us somewhere. Now unfortunately for other people,
I mean I'm not trying to say we're privileged, we're blessed
at what we are. We're blessed. But if there's
an us, there's a them somewhere. Because there are those who cry
out of the depths and there are those who don't. Even though
they're in the depths. See this message is for those
who know they're in the depths or know they were. I don't have a word for unbelievers.
I can't help a dead alien sinner. I can't give life. but I know
the one who does. I know the one who does. And
I know this, if you're one of his, he's gonna fix it so that
you see you are in the depths and you're gonna want out. And
he's gonna see that you know there ain't but one way out.
And that's the way Jesus Christ the righteous. Ah. Always remember 2 Timothy 2.19.
I think I actually picked that in here. Nevertheless, I love
that word, nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal. So what's this seal? The Lord
knoweth them that are his. Not that were. Not that we'll
be. If you are one of God's people,
he are knowing you right now. He knows you right now. Present
tense. And guess what? If you read this
scripture tomorrow, 2 Timothy 2.19, he's gonna say the Lord
knows them that still are his. Because to God, everything is
now. They don't know past, future
with him. He knows it all. We're stuck. We forget the past
and don't know the future. And some of us aren't very sure
about what's going on now. Some days are better than others.
Let's be honest, people. The no one, anyone the Lord knows
is his and he's always known and he always will know them. And I'm gonna tell you something,
God knowing you ain't like me knowing you. Because when God
knows someone, he loves them. He loves them. What did Christ
tell those fellows that came to him and said, hey, we did
this, that, and the other thing in your name? All good things.
We preached in your name. We've done mighty works in your
name. What did Christ say? He would tell them. I never knew If the Lord knows you, it's because
he loves you. Verse four, but. If the Lord should mark iniquity,
oh, and I pointed out last week, if Yahweh should mark iniquity,
oh Adonai, who shall stand? But, there's forgiveness with
thee, with thee. that thou mayest be feared. There
is forgiveness in Adonai, in Jesus Christ. There's no forgiveness
anywhere else. But there is forgiveness with
thee. It's with him. It ain't with
you. It's not with me. It's with him. Because you understand, I don't
need to forgive God. I know a lot of people are saying,
Lord, I know you put me through a lot, but I'm gonna come anyway
to heaven. I forgive you for putting me
through all this. No, you ain't been through nothing you didn't
deserve. As a matter of fact, you've deserved far worse. And
I'm telling you that as a pretty good fella that I think I am. I deserve much worse than I have
received. The rain falls on the just and
the unjust alike. And you know what that means?
That means you get to eat. Because if the rain didn't fall,
the crops didn't grow. And trust me, you'll read in
this book where God withheld the rain. Why? So the crops didn't
grow. Why? So Jacob's brothers, Jacob's
sons would have to go to Egypt and buy from Joseph. Amazing
how that works. The whole world was in a drought
to get, what, 10 brothers. down into Egypt. God moves in mysterious ways,
his wonders perform, and then he writes them down for us. Ah, there's forgiveness with
Christ. There's forgiveness with no other
person. And it's with him, because if
the Lord doesn't forgive, all you got left is in the depths.
That's it. All you got left is the pit.
And you're not gonna dig yourself out of it. Let's move on a little bit. Verse
five, verse six, I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait and,
let's point this out right quick, in his word do I hope. We've
got his word right here, folks, in this book. You can hope in his word because
it's his. He's given it to us. But guess
what? Even though I got it here in
a book, it's still his word. It's not what I say about it,
it's what he said. It's not what I think about it.
It's his word that matters. It's not what anybody thinks
about it. And please believe me, folks, it certainly doesn't
matter what other people say about it. Because they will say
absolutely anything and try and find something in here to back
them up. That's the problem with present
day preaching. Well, that's the problem with present day lying
and past day lying and future day lying. They'll deny the word
of God in order to prove their point. I said it a while back. Theologians, religious people,
and preachers will not let the scripture get in the way of what
they want. It won't let the scripture get in the way of what they believe. And if Jesus Christ was here,
they'd argue with him too. They did while he was here. They
did while he was here. And then when he won the argument,
they tried to throw rocks at him and kill him. And then they
did kill him. According to the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God. According to the purpose and
according to the plan. Otherwise they'd have never laid
a hand on him. In his word do I hope. My soul
waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than they that watch
for the morning. I'm waiting on God. Because here's the thing. If
you're in the depths, and you know you are in the depths, and
you've cried unto the Lord, what else can you do? He's gonna teach
you a little patience. You're gonna wait. You're gonna
wait. Jeremiah talked about, you know,
Israel was in captivity. for what, 70 years, however many
years, you know? And guess what? When Moses was
in Egypt and born, they'd been there 400 years, they'd been
slaves for a while, and guess what? The people of Israel had
been crying out. They'd been crying out, but then
you'll read when Moses came onto the scene, God said, I've heard
the people cry, and I'm answering. See, before he answered, but
the answer was no. He heard him. And there may be a time that
you may think you're in the depths for a long time, because I'll
tell you this, when you know you're in the depths, it feels
like a long time. It feels like a long time. It
may not be a long time, but it still feels that way. But you wait and you hope in
the Lord. And in his word, because in his
word it says, if you call upon the name of the Lord, thou shalt
be saved. Because the Lord saves his people
from their sins. That's what the angel told Joseph
that Jesus was coming to do. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
verse seven. For with the Lord there is mercy,
and with him is plenteous redemption. Man, I've been waiting a long
time to get here. This is where I wanna be, because this is what
I need. First, let Israel hope in the Lord. Said, oh, I hope
in his word. Yeah, he is his word. You understand, God's word is
just like him. God's word is just like his thoughts. He's not like us. God does not
say one thing and do another. You understand? God doesn't think one thing and
say another. God's thoughts, God's words,
and God's actions are all the same. And see, I'm gonna tell you something,
if you know anything about yourself, that's what makes you an alien
to God. Because I'll think one thing, say another, it means
something else. I'll admit to it, folks. I have to deal with
the public sometimes in my day job. My weekly job. And if I said
what I thought sometimes, My, I got to spend more time with
my wife because I'd be at home without a job. And she might
not be quite as happy with me. My father told me decades ago
that, you know, your mouth's gonna get you into trouble. I
said, you're right, it's true. But you understand, my mouth
doesn't say anything that didn't come out of here. It never has. It's in there, I may not be thinking
it, I don't know that I'm thinking it, but it come out and it was
in there somewhere. But God's not that way. Oh, hope in his word. And I'm
gonna tell you something, if you're hoping in his word, you're
hoping in him. But here it says, hope in him. He'll do exactly
what he said he would do. My goodness. And guess what? His word will not return unto
him void. It's gonna accomplish that for
which I said it. I wish I could say that about
my word. But I can't even accomplish some of the things I've said
I did. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is our hope. He's our hope, our hope is a
person. So hope, let Israel hope in the Lord. For with the Lord
there is mercy. And with him is plenteous redemption. Oh my. With him is mercy. It
starts there. Loving kindness. Merciful loving kindness. That's
what the word means that's used here. Undeserved kindness. Somebody tried to say one time,
I'm gonna let you have mercy on me. No, no, no, this is undeserved
kindness, okay? It's undeserved kindness, what's
that? That means the Lord is going to treat you better than
you deserve. That's mercy. That's mercy, because
I deserve hell. And you deserve hell. And everybody
out there on the TV, wherever, you deserve hell. But I don't
want hell, me neither. but there is forgiveness with
him. There's no forgiveness with me,
I can't forgive you. Even though I'd try. If I could, I would. Some of you. Well, I point to the TV, say
some of you. Well, I'm not gonna say I'm Mason,
but I understand his feelings that I saved my friends and I
damned my enemies if I was God. It's the kind of person I am. I'm prejudiced for the people
I like. And I'm prejudiced against the people I don't like. And
that's got nothing to do with race, religion, creed, well it
does have something to do with religion. But creed or color,
I don't care about that. But this is the thing, this is
the thing. With Him, there is forgiveness. Why? Because with Him, there's
mercy. You understand, forgiveness,
is a mercy. It's undeserved. That's why he
has to forgive you. You deserve condemnation. I deserve
condemnation. It's a mercy that I have not
been condemned. It's a mercy that he has forgiven
my sins. Why? Because he marked him in
his son. That's where we're headed. He's marked him in his son, the
Lord brought me up out of a horrible pit, and the Lord set my feet
on a rock. And I said it last week, he set
them on the rock. He set, he pulled me out of the
miry clay, set my feet on a rock, and then, this is the beautiful
thing here for you folks, that believers, for believers, and
for believers only, He established your goings. He established your
goings. Why are you here today? Why are
you listening today on TV? God's established your goings.
Now, whether it's for forgiveness or condemnation, I can't say. But that's the way it is. His
gospel, I'm doing my best to preach his gospel because all
of this has to do with our Lord Jesus Christ and none of this
is possible without Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Because
with the Lord there is mercy. I don't have any to give you. The only mercy I have is what
he's given me. And the only mercy you all have
is what he has given you. Why? Because it's with him. It's
with him. And there's a reason There's
a reason God can be merciful. God just doesn't, God says I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. But you understand, I'm angry
with the wicked every day. You understand, the soul that
sinneth shall surely die. So how can God give forgiveness? How can God be merciful? Well,
here's the answer in verse seven at the end, and with him is plenteous. Plenteous redemption. Man, when I read that, I know
I read this Psalm before, but man, it just jumped out at me,
Walter. You understand, I love redemption. I need redemption. I want redemption. You know why? Because I know who is redemption. And I've been in the depths.
I've been in the pit. I was made to see I was in the
pit. And you know what you need to get out of the pit? Plenteous
redemption. You understand? Let's be very
clear. There's a conjunction here, right?
Let Israel hope in the Lord, four. With the Lord there is
mercy. That's one conjunction, four.
And, here's the other conjunction. With him is plenteous mercy.
You understand, mercy is tied to redemption. You understand, without redemption,
plenteous redemption, there is no mercy. And this is the thing. With plenteous redemption, there
is always mercy. They're tied. You understand,
this is where the rubber meets the road with what people call
particular redemption. Or limited atonement. Now you
can call it whatever you want. I don't mind. I'll use them both.
This depends upon which offends someone more. Because if you've
got a problem with this, you've got a problem with God. If you
got a problem with his plenteous redemption, you got a problem
with me. But that don't matter, you know.
You got a problem with this book. And you got a problem with God. Because his redemption is plenteous. And because there is plenteous
redemption, he is merciful and he forgives. Because without
the redemption, there is no forgiveness. Because without the redemption,
there is no mercy. It's mercy and plenteous redemption. They're tied. Because the mercy of the Lord
is salvation. Because where there is mercy,
there had to be redemption. I know, it sounds kind of simple
when you say it that way. And it sounded a lot more profound
in my head. Okay? Because it is profound. You understand, if God's, this
kind of mercy, the forgiveness of sins, it's because there has
been a plenteous redemption. And I'm also here to tell you
right now that 2,000 years ago, this plenteous redemption happened. And it happened once. Once. Once for us. Oh man. This is what we have in Christ. We do have Christ, we have him,
we have a who, okay? But what we have in Christ is
plenteous redemption. Because why? The Lord of hosts
is his name. The Holy One of Israel. That's
his name too. What's the last one? The Redeemer. The Redeemer. He sang that song
and I thank Walter for picking that one out. Because we've been
talking about this a bit. Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die. I don't need a modifying word
in front of redemption. I don't need one. But I like
this one. You understand, I understand
redemption, I've been taught redemption, I love redemption,
I need redemption. And this book is full of redemption.
In many ways. But I'm gonna tell you something,
if you're gonna put a modifying word in front of redemption,
you can't think of a better one than plenteous. You understand? I've been taught in God's Word
and by God's men, and my brothers and sisters in Christ, that the
redemption of Jesus Christ is complete, it's sufficient, it's
particular, it's total, and it's singular. There's only one. Because redemption, here's what
redemption is. God bought his people with the
blood of his son. He purchased us with his own
blood. God's blood. It's what the scripture
says. I'm not turning to it. Paul got
close to it there. But it's all right. God purchased us. That's what redemption means.
Well, doesn't God own everything? Well, yeah, he does. But this
is special. This is special. This is special. Yes, we were all lost. Yes, we
are all sinners. But from before the foundation
of the world, God chose his people in Christ. Chose it in Christ
from before the foundation of the world. Why? So Christ would
redeem them. And you understand, here's the
thing, we don't have anything to do with this redemption. This
is the son shed his blood and purchased us. To the father. To the father. You understand?
This is between the father and the son. We're just the goods. And it's for our good. He owns us. You've heard lock, stock, and
barrel, right? That ain't nothing on what God's got on you. He
owns your very soul. And he has mercy and forgiveness
for you. It's with him, but it's for you. any sign. That's plenteous redemption. I mean, ooh. Because if you are
redeemed, and this happened, like I said, 2,000 years ago,
if you are redeemed, you are not your own. Why? Why? You are bought with a price. And that price was the precious
blood of the Son of God. Oh, Christ bought you with his
own blood and he's promised what? He will never leave you or never
forsake you. I'm sorry, if you think you can
get saved and lost and saved and lost, you're wrong. Because
you understand, You didn't put yourself into God and you ain't
taking yourself out. I gotta quit using the word ain't.
I'm gonna get in trouble. You did not put yourself into
God and you are never gonna take yourself out of God. Because
why? You're not capable. You're just not. You are incapable. Still. Still. I'm getting better
and better every day in every way. Yeah, you're something else. I can't say. You're full of it.
You know, you are believing in strong delusion. I'm sorry, that's
all there is. I mean, thank God I'm not what
I used to be. But I know I'm still nowhere
close to where I ought to be. And I'm not even even that close
to what I'm going to be. Why? Because of plenteous redemption. Oh, there's more promises here
because of that plenteous redemption. You understand, that's why I
like this modifier, because see, what I'm hearing around, some
of that present day preaching, I hear a partial redemption.
I hear a universal redemption that doesn't redeem. You gotta do something with it.
Now, It varies on what you're supposed to do, depending upon
who's talking to you. I'm gonna tell you this right
now, you ain't doing nothing until he does it for you. He's gonna, what? Establish your
goings. If you come to Christ, it's because
he brought you. It's not a partial redemption,
it's not mostly redemption. that he's redeemed you, now you
gotta keep it up. It's not nearly redemption. And thank God it's
not even available redemption. It's available, you go get it.
That's one of the things they're saying now, that Christ has made
salvation available. That's a lie. That's a lie, I'm
sorry folks, that's a lie. That's a big lie. Jesus Christ is our salvation.
Because he is our plenteous redemption. It's plenteous redemption. And
I looked at that word, it means increased, it means great, great
redemption, that's good. It means exceeding. The other
one I really did like was multiplied. Now, understand, not multiple.
It's not multiple redemptions, no. It's a multiplied redemption. The other word is overabundance. Overabundant redemption. You know what? There's more redemption
there than you can use up. Ain't that a great thought? You
know? Trust me, if there was a way
to mess up redemption, I'd figure it out. You know? My dad used to also tell me this.
There ain't been nothing made you can't break, son. Because
I broke a lot of things growing up. Luckily they didn't belong
to me, most of them, but I did. But here's the thing. I can't
break his redemption. It's over and more abundant than
I could ever use up. Because whatever men think of
redemption, even correctly, Okay, even correctly, the way you think
of redemption. No matter how true and how scriptural
it is, the redemption of Jesus Christ is more. It's more. It's more than men could write
down. Even under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it's more
than our mind could ever comprehend. Because here's the thing, a plenteous
redemption is a spring that will never run dry. It's a well that's never dried
up. Oh. It's plenteous. It's multiplied and it's overabundant
redemption. And now, right now, we speak
of it as having been accomplished. I'm sorry, Walter, I just kept
right on going. It's accomplished. You know what? That redemption is with God. Who's gonna take it from him?
This is the part I don't understand. Okay, answer me a question. You can ask this to your friends
or people you don't like. How many sheep is a good shepherd
gonna lose? He ain't gonna lose none. Or
he's not very good. That's it. And when Christ said,
good, you know what he told that rich young ruler? He said, why
callest thou me good? No one's good but God. Guess
what? He's the God shepherd. And he said that. That's not
somebody, you know, illustrating him. Christ said, I am the good
shepherd. And I know my sheep. Why? Is he going to save them? They're his. They're his. And they're his by plenteous
redemption. He bought every one of his sheep
with his blood. And you understand, not a drop
of that blood was wasted on any of those sheep. Ever, ever. Like I said, mercy and redemption
are together. Forgiveness, mercy, and redemption
are together. and you can't separate them,
and I don't want to. Because if I've got redemption,
Walter, I got it all. If he's redeemed me, I got it
all, or I will have it. I have been blessed in spiritual
places, heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, right now. Even when I
don't know it. Even when I don't understand
it, and I don't, I grasp a little bit of it every now and then.
It just fascinates the dickens out of me. And I don't mean to
sound cocky or confident, because what it is is I'm in awe of the
fact that my Lord Jesus Christ, seated on the right hand of the
Father, can look down and see Joe Galusi and say, that's one
of mine. Really, you know? Talk about undeserved
kindness. Jesus speaks kindly of you toward
God. His Father. He's not ashamed
to call us brethren. You know what that is? That's
plenteous redemption. That's plenteous redemption.
One quick thing, because I want to throw this in, because of
what we've been talking about, Proverbs 16 and verse six. Because
we tied forgiveness and mercy and redemption all together,
right? Well, Proverbs 16 and verse six ties this together.
By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. And by the fear of
the Lord, men depart from evil. What did he say there? but there's
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. Okay, you're
not gonna have forgiveness, you're not gonna have mercy, and you're
not gonna have redemption without the truth. It's there, it's there. Because
he's tied in Proverbs 16, he's tied mercy and truth. Well mercy's
already tied to forgiveness and redemption. Guess what? The redeemed are going to be
taught the truth of God. I think that's an even more glorious
thing. There's no escaping God. And thank God for it. Why would
you want to? Why would you want to? Jonathan
Edwards said this. You contribute nothing to your
salvation. And I might change that. You
contribute nothing to your plenteous redemption. Except the sin that
made it necessary. Now ain't that the truth? That's
what we contribute to this relationship with God. The sin that made it necessary.
And you know what? Contributed? Everything, everything. Forgiveness, mercy, truth, and
plenteous redemption, all by the grace of God in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for this time. Lord, please, Help me to live like I know these
things. Thank you for all of it. In Christ's
name we pray.