Well, I can say for me, it is
a great honor and a privilege to be with you. I say back to
Brother Frank, as he so graciously said about me, I love your pastor
and I love you. And as the Lord is my witness,
I've told different ones this, and if this is not so, The Lord's
hearing, he hears what I'm saying. When two or three are gathered
together, he said, I'm in the midst of you. As the Lord brings
your blessed pastor, this congregation, to my heart daily, I call your
assembly before him, asking his blessing. Thanking the Lord for
you, praying God. Bless here, bless the word here.
I'm so thankful that he's allowed. The gospel to be here, be here
in Ashley, but that I'm thankful. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn back to Psalm 37 Psalm 37. I want to. I want to look actually at the
last portion of the fourth verse, but I want us to kind of look
at the first few verses of instruction from our Lord and then the promises
that go with His instruction. Because of the evildoers, neither
be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Don't, don't be
grieved. Don't be grieved. Don't be angry. Why? For they shall soon be cut
down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Listen to this instruction. Trust
in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed. Place your confidence in the
Lord and do good. Do that which is beautiful. Hear the word of God preached.
Search the scriptures daily. Get along with the Lord. Enter
into your closet. These means of God teaching,
speaking through his word. Delight thyself. Be pliable. That's what that word means.
Be pliable. Delight thyself also in the Lord. For me, it's so easy for me to
read something. It just passes right over, you
know. I told the folks at Katie I was
considering this verse and it says, delight thyself also in
the Lord. I said it could have said, delight
thyself in the Lord. That would have been wonderful
instruction. It didn't say that. Delight thyself
also in the Lord. So I wanted to look it up, see
what it meant. Delight thyself again. delight
thyself again. I need to delight myself again. I need to hear the gospel again. I need to be told again. Delight thyself also in the Lord
and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Roll your way upon. Lord your word, that's a lamp,
that's a light, my feet, my path. Commit thy way unto the Lord,
trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring
forth thy righteousness as the light, thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord. and wait patiently for him, fret
not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, because
of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Rest in the Lord. Be silent. Be silent. Wait. Wait. My children call me often. I
mean, I've always talked with them pretty often, but especially,
you know, of course, the girls, I'll talk to the girl. It seemed
like I talked to Gabe, I don't know, one to five times a day.
And how often, I can remember, we'll talk about this, just wait,
wait, wait, be quiet. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him. His timing is perfect. We know that. But how anxious
I find myself to be. Cease from anger and forsake
wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise
to do evil. Three times, he said, fret not
thyself. Don't be angry. Don't grieve yourself. How I need to be told that. Don't grieve. I can tell you
why. Because I know this, he worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. I need to be told one more time,
and we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
I know that. I need to be told that again.
I need to wait, to rest, to trust in the Lord again. Now this evening, as I've considered
those verses and looking at those verses, I want us to look for
just a few minutes at verse four. delight thyself again also in
the Lord and listen to this blessed promise and he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart. He shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. I thought on that and I asked
myself, truly, I asked myself, what do I truly desire? Truthfully, truthfully. I'm talking
about now eternally. What do I truly want? What do I want? Brother Mike
was reading a few minutes ago, pastor's study, and as he was
reading, I thought about this verse right
here and knowing what I was about to preach, talking about what
I desire, what do I want? Paul the apostle says in Romans
7, 18, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth
no good thing, for to will is present with me. I know what
I want. I know what I want. I'm going to just name a few
things in just a few minutes, what I truthfully desire. For
to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is
good, I find not. What do I truly desire? Let me give you just a few things
that I truthfully desire. I want this. I want this. And
you that know him, I know this. You do too. Tell me if you don't
agree with me. Here's the first thing I desire. That I may know him. This is life eternal. This is life eternal. This is
life eternal. You know, when the Lord sets
forth that truth in John 17, 3, we ought to listen, shouldn't
we? When He says this is life eternal,
I want to hear that heartfully, that they might know Thee, the
only true God, truthful God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou sent. This is life eternal. I know, I know being taught by
the Spirit of God, I fell in Adam. I know that. I know, as I just read a few
minutes ago, there is in me, there is in my flesh, there dwelleth
no good thing. I know that. I know, I can readily
admit, there is not one good thing that I can produce. I know that. I need Him. I need the Savior. I need the Master. Oh, that I
might know Him, that I might know Him who is my Redeemer,
who is my Savior, who is my Substitute, who is my Advocate before God. I need a High Priest. I need
Him. Oh, that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings
being made conformable unto death. I know, I know the five points
of Calvinism. I know the five points of Calvinism.
You do too. And I believe that those five
points of Calvinism are so. You know devils know that too?
They know that. There's not a demon in hell that
doesn't know that man is depraved and that God has an elect. That
Christ died for His elect. That the Spirit of God is irresistibly
going to call them out. They know that. They know that.
I'm going to read you a scripture in a few minutes to prove it.
They know that God's going to keep His people. They know that.
But you know what? They don't have a heart for Christ.
They don't have faith. They don't trust Him. They don't
trust him. They don't love him. There's
a difference. You know, the devils believe
and tremble. And do you know when the Philippian
jailer was told by Paul and Silas, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
do you know those two words are the same word? Two words, the
same word, look them up, same word. The devils believe. What's
the difference? One of them, the believer has
faith. Faith to know Him. Faith to trust
Him. Faith to long after Him. To come
to Him. To love Him. Let me read you
a scripture. Turn, if you would, Revelation
12. Revelation 12, starting in verse
13. Revelation chapter 12. I made
the statement a minute ago when I said the devils believe. Satan knows that God has a people. He knows that God's going to
call His people out through the preaching of the gospel. He knows
that. Listen to the scripture. Revelation
12. Starting in verse 13, and when
the dragon saw that he was cast onto the earth, he persecuted
the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman
were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into
the wilderness, into her place where she is nourished for a
time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent.
Now let me tell you what just happened. Satan is cast out. Satan is after the woman. He's after the church. He's after
the bride. God has a bride. God's going to call out his bride
through the preaching of the gospel. Now let me tell you what
Satan is doing today. What he's done from the beginning.
The preaching of the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
You know that. What Satan is going to do is
he's going to cast false gospel out to try to drown the woman. He does not know who she is.
He knows that there is an elect, but he does not know until God
calls out his people. He don't know who they are. So
what you do is you just flood the earth with lies. And drowned
her. That's how you do it. Just drowned
her. Send all these false doctrines out. Now, verse 15. And the serpent cast out of his
mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause
her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the
woman. And the earth opened her mouth
and swallowed up the flood, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with
the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ. He knows that God has an elect. All these false religions, false
gospels, that's just a flood of lies. That I might know Him, be kept by Him. Here's the second
thing I want, I desire. I desire to be found in Him. Listen to this, and be found
in Him, not having my own righteousness, I don't want to stand before
God and say unto Him in that day as many will. I know they
will because the Lord said they would. Many will say unto me
in that day, Lord, Lord, we prophesied your name. We cast
out devils in your name. We've done many mighty works
in your name. And then he said, that he's going
to say, depart from me. I never knew you. I know that
we're all going to stand before God. I know that. Frank, I want
to be found in him. I want to be found. I want to
be found that found. I want to be perceived. I want
to be seen. That's what that word means.
that I might be seen in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. Noah looked like everybody else. Noah had a heart just like everybody
else. But here's what scripture says.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I want to be seen in him. I want
to be found in him in that day. Thirdly, I desire to be a peacemaker. I want to be, I want to be. Matthew
5, 9 says blessed are the peacemakers. for they shall be called the
children of God. I want to have a heart that is a peaceful maker. I desire that things done through
strife and contention not be found in me. I want that, Frank. Now, to will is present with
me, but how to accomplish that which I would, I find not. I'm just telling you what my
heart is. This is what I want. I want that.
I wish that every time something crossed my path or somebody crossed
my path and, you know, my feathers got ruffled or something like
that, I'd always do the right thing. I want to be. I want, I desire that. Here's
the fourth thing. I desire for the Lord to set
a watch before my mouth and to keep the door of my lips. You know why? Because of the
hurt that I know that it causes my brethren and myself. James chapter 3. James 3, you
know this. James 3 verses 6 to 10. The Spirit of God says through
the apostle James, the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members
that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course
of nature. and it's set on fire of hell.
For every kind of beast, of birds, of serpents, of things in the
sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can
no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. I want, I truly desire for the
Lord to put a watch on my mouth. Let me learn to be quiet. Let me learn to If I'm going to talk about it,
let me talk to Him. Let me bear my heart before Him. May I do it to the honor of my
blessed Savior and for the good of my brethren, for myself. Number five, I desire to be a
gracious encourager to the Lord's people. I want, I need to be encouraged. Can I, can I share something
with you about your pastor? He needs more encouragement than
you realize. He needs more prayer than you
realize. He needs more kind words than
you realize. He has the burden of God's Word,
number one, Mike, to seek and then to deliver. I want to be an encouragement
to God's people. Colossians 4, 6, let your speech
be always, always with grace. seasoned with salt, you the salt
of the earth, speak as an encourager, an uplifter, that ye may know
how you ought to answer every man. I don't want to discourage you. I don't want to speak in a way
that's going to be number one detriment to the God that I love and serve.
That's the way a believer talks, is that I want to be an encourager. When I have something to say,
I'm going to tell you what Brother Henry, I heard him say this one
time, you've heard this, but that's okay, I need to hear it
again. He said one time, he said if you have something to say
about somebody, ask yourself three questions. Number one,
is it true? Is it kind? Boy, that's going
to nip it right here just about all the time right there. It's
going to nip it right in the bud right there. Number three, is it necessary?
Really? May I avoid, for the glory of
God and for the sake of God's assembly, so in discord. May I be found to speak in love
and avoid gossip, whispering or anything else that's injurious
to the character of another. Here's the next thing I desire.
I truly desire to be found praying for you. Philippians 1, Philippians 1,
verse 3 to 6. I love this passage of scripture. Many times I'll end a letter
and I'll just write down Philippians 1, 3 to 6. And for God's people, you truly
mean this. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you, always. in every prayer of mine for you
all, making request with joy for your fellowship in the gospel.
From the first day until now, being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. I truly desire this. I want to
be found praying for you. I want to. I want to. Samuel
said in 1 Samuel 12, 23, Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I
should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. God
forbid that I should do that. That I should not be praying
for you. Asking God's blessing, asking
the Lord's blessing upon the Word right here at Hurricane
Row. Praying for you, praying for you, Pastor. God forbid.
Brethren, Paul said 1 Thessalonians 5 25 pray for us. Pray for us. Number 7. I desire. To be found faithful. To God's
calling. I desire to be faithful. 1 Corinthians 4 two moreover. It
is required. It's required in stewards that
a man be found faithful. Faithful. I don't want to be merely taking
up space. I really don't. I started thinking about three
score and 10 more and more often. I was born in 1949. That's 65. You don't have to, it's 65. Preschool in 10. This life is but a vapor. I know
that. I'm aware of that. And the older
I get, The more it weighs upon my mind. I want to be faithful. Lord. If I have truly never desired
this before tonight. Let me start right now. I want
to be faithful to his calling. He's called me to be a pastor.
I want to be faithful. I want to be faithful to study.
I want to be faithful to seek His face. I want to be faithful.
Faithful to Him. Faithful to His Word. For His
honor. His command is this. Delight
thyself also in the Lord and His promise is He shall give
thee the desires of thine heart. I want that. I want that. I know. I am convinced. That
for this fallen sinner in Adam, ruined by the fall, I know that
my hope is that He took my place and redeemed me at Calvary. I know that. That He was made
sin for me. That's all my hope. That He put
away my guilt. And that the Spirit of God has
regenerated me by grace and power. Sealed me. Stamped me. I'm His. And God Almighty keeps
me by His power. That's all of my hope. He's all
of my salvation. Salvations of the Lord. I truly
desire to be faithful. I might be faithful. Number eight, I desire to have a spirit of
forgiveness. I truly desire to have a spirit
of forgiveness in Matthew chapter six. The, uh, the Lord was teaching
his disciples. They said, teach us to pray.
And in Matthew chapter six, the Lord was set forth this model
prayer. And in verse 12, he said, and
forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And in that model prayer, that
portion right there was the only portion out of that model prayer
that the Lord expounded on. That was the only one he expounded
on, that portion. And this is what he said concerning
forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. He said in verses
14 and 15, for if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
Now, let me tell you this. God Almighty does not forgive
us based upon our forgiveness of others. Our forgiveness of
others is not the reason that He forgave us. He forgave us
for His namesake. I know this truthfully. It can be said that our Lord
forgave us having justified us freely by His grace, having chosen
us in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. I know that. I know that it can
be said that our debts were forgiven when the Lord Jesus Christ shed
His precious blood at Calvary. And He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. It can truthfully be said that
He forgives us daily. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. I know this, having forgiven
His people in Christ. Having regenerated his people
by grace, by his Holy Spirit, they have a heart of forgiveness. They have a heart of forgiveness. Again, Brother Henry, if you
don't mind me quoting him, I'll just quote him. I like what he
says. He said, where there is found
a heart or a spirit of unforgiveness, There's biblical proof to say
that forgiveness from the Lord has never been experienced. I went back and looked up the
word forgiveness again. I want to make sure I understood
what it meant. Let it go. That's what it says. Look it up. It says, let the
offense go. Let it go. Let it go. I can truthfully say you may
never forget it. You may always remember what
happened. Let it go. Don't hold a grudge. Don't hold a grudge. Lord, help
me. I don't want to be found with
unforgiving spirit. Why? Because he told me, he said,
if you forgive not those that trespass against you, Your father
will not forgive you. I truly desire to be found with
a heart of forgiveness. That the Spirit of God would
teach me, remind me, bring back to my mind that God's forgiven
me. And believe me, I've done a whole
lot more rebelling against Him than anybody ever did against
me. Be you kind one to another. Tenderhearted. I need to remember this, Frank.
Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven you. You know, isn't it the greatest,
I mean, have you ever had, you know, be at odds with somebody
and it's just gone on, it's just so ridiculous, and it's just,
then all of a sudden reconciliation's just made and you just hug each
other and just, you say, you know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry too.
I, you know, I always loved you, I loved you too. I, you know,
I didn't mean that, I just, I was just so proud and arrogant, I'm
sorry. I was too, I don't want to do that no more. Do you? No,
I don't want to either. Let's forget it, okay? Let's just forget.
Let's just don't bring it up again, okay? No, let's don't.
I don't want to talk about it anymore. And that's the sweetest
thing in the world. I mean, he's just so kind and
just, you know, I think, Lord, give me a heart. I want to be
found like that. He's forgiven me. May I forgive
you? Number nine, I truly desire to endure to the end. by faith. I truly desire. I want to endure. He that endures to the end shall
be saved. And I can tell you this, if he
doesn't keep me, I'm not going to be kept. Because I don't have
the ability to do that. I know I don't. Lord, help me,
I'm going to perish. Lord, keep me. Lord, help me. Lord, you've promised You've
promised that your people are going to be kept by the power
of God. Lord, I desire to be kept. I desire to be found faithful. Back in Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter
6, and they died in the faith. Oh, what an ending. Period. And they died in the faith. And they're with the Lord. They see
Him now by sight. And no more by faith. No, they
see Him by sight now. And they were kept to the end. He that endureth to the end shall
be saved. He must keep me. because I can't keep myself. Number 10. I desire to be found
faithful to hear the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. Without faith, It's impossible
to please Him. And faith cometh. Again, I learned
this from Brother Henry. He said, E-T-H on the end, it's
just progressive. It's just progressive. It's just
faith cometh. Faith cometh. Yesterday's faith
is gone. It's like yesterday's air. Yesterday's
oxygen. I got to have some more oxygen
right now. I got to breathe right now. I have to have faith right
now. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. I desire to be found faithful. Desiring to want to hear the
Word of God. I want to hear what God has to
say. I want to hear the gospel of
God's grace. Tell me one more time how the
Lord has been merciful to me. Tell me one more time in spirit
of God. Teach me again right now. And the last one. And I'm going to just sum up
everything right here. I desire. To believe him. I want to believe God. I want to believe Him. Abraham
believed God. I've heard it said many times.
Demons believe in God. They believe in God. Those demons,
you know, Legion and that demoniac and the Gadarenes, those demons,
they knew who He was. Holy One of God. They knew His
power. Have you come to torture us before
our time? They knew who He was. They knew
who He was. I want to know Him and believe
Him. I want to believe Him. I want
to trust Him. Mark 16, 16 says, As he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned. I desire to believe God. Believe
what he said about me. Believe what he said about himself.
Believe what he said about his son. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. That means that you don't believe
on yourself at all. You don't trust in yourself at
all. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You trust Him. You look to Him, you call on
Him. There's nothing in here to call
on. All is dark and wild, but to look to Him. I want to believe
God. All the believers, hope, peace,
comfort. David said this, Psalm 27, for
one thing, have I desired of the Lord, and
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty, the delight,
the grace of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. Delight
thyself also in the Lord. and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. That I might know him, that I might be found in him, that I might be found a peacemaker, a forgiving believer, one that
prays for God's people, one that encourages God's One that believes
God, looks to Him, trusts Him. One that's kept by the power
of God to the end. For Christ's sake, for our good,
Amen.