You will turn back to that scripture
Brother Bobby read to us, Psalm 126. And I'll see if I can teach you the
song of the dreamer. The song of the dreamer. Now
the theme of this song is deliverance. That's what he's talking about.
That's what he's singing about. And you remember what I said
last night about these songs. These pilgrims, by direction
of God, were packing up and they were going to Jerusalem, to God's
designated place of worship. And on their way there They wanted
to go there and partake, not go there and watch. They wanted
to go there and partake of those typical feasts. That's what we're
doing tonight, except it's not typical. This is the real feast. But they were going there and
they would watch these things as they were done according to
God's commandment. You see to it. God said that
you do all these things exactly as I showed you in the mountain.
You're not free to take these things and change them around.
That's what men like to do. That's what Israel was prone
to do. We don't want to go to Jerusalem.
We're going to go up on the mountain. We're going to build some groves.
Why can't we have a waterfall and plant some lilies in there?
And maybe have some music while you're trying to talk. They won't
change everything around. No, these pilgrims had faith. And they understood what those
feasts meant. They were taught what these feasts meant. And
on their way, they would sing these spiritually inspired songs
And if you look above them from Psalm 120 all the way through
134, every one of them says a Song of Degrees. Song of Degrees. And they would sing these hymns,
sing these songs, and recall what the Lord had done for them.
He starts out in Psalm 120, that's the Song of the Crier. All you
realize what kind of condition he was in, and he said, I cried
unto the Lord. I cried. Don't you want to recall
that? I don't hate that hour. Oh, my
soul. I want to cry to Him every day.
Every day. And in these first four songs
of degrees, or five, the psalmist sings in the first person. He begins with the first person.
In my distress, I cried unto the Lord. In Psalm 121, I will lift up
mine eyes to the hill, from whence cometh my help. Psalm 122, I
was glad when they said unto me, let's go up to the house
of the Lord. Psalm 123, Unto thee lift I up
my eyes, O thou that dwelleth in the heavens. And truly, faith,
repentance, conviction of sin, and prayer are personal things. You can't ride on my coattail
and I can't ride on yours. My children are not believers
because I'm a believer. God gives faith one at a time. One at a time. He leads to repentance
one at a time. All through here the sweet
psalmist of Israel uses the word I. Paul said I know whom I have
believed. Brother Bobby talked about Job
the other night. Job said, I will see him for
myself and not another. And Jonah said, out of the belly
of hell, I cry. I cry. Salvation is a personal
work in the hearts of all them that believe. And faith is a
very personal, individual work. It's born of something greater. Something greater. We don't go,
surely we're thankful for the grace of God that gave us faith. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Surely
we're grateful for that. But I don't hang on to that,
that old experience. I know folks who do. They want
to go back 30 years, you know. I can tell you the time. That's
not it. You missed it. You missed it. It's born of something greater. When Peter wrote those books
that you quoted from, he writes to those who have obtained like
precious faith. Paul calls Titus his son after
the common faith. And in Ephesians 4, he talks
about one faith. All God's people have one faith.
And then he talks about the unity of the faith. And then in Acts 13, verse 48,
it says, as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. Personal faith is not being convinced
that Christ died for you. Personal faith lays hold on a
person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It lays hold on Him who represents
the whole body of Christ. It learns who He is. and why
he came, and what he did, and where he's at. It lays hold on a person. And personal faith hears of and
believes the appointments of Christ. I heard the name Jesus
since I was that big. Nobody ever told me who he was.
But he wasn't much or they wouldn't have referred to him by his first
name. He was just Jesus. Never got above that. Personal faith hears and believes
the appointments of Christ. Prophet, priest, and king. Covenant
surety. Here's a covenant. Old David's
dying. He's gasping for breath. And
with his last breath, He said, although it be not so with my
house, yet God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and what? Sure. Why? Because it has a surety. What
makes that covenant sure? The one who satisfied God's demands
in the covenant. The covenant surety. Personal
faith lays hold on these things. It believes the appointments
of Christ. He's the prophet. He is the word
made flesh. The eternal word made flesh. And he's the high priest. He's
like old Melchizedek. He didn't have a father or a
mother. He didn't have beginning of days
or end of times. God said he's going to be a priest
forever. Huh? Wherefore he's able to say
to the uttermost those who come unto God by him. Believers lay
hold of these things. He's the covenant charity. He's
the representative man. What in the world? This is God
coming into the flesh. Why is He becoming obedient to
a law? He's God. He's the law giver. He's not there obeying that law
for Himself. He's obeying that law for you
and me. Why? Because we can't. That's
why. He's the mediator. One mediator
between God and men. The man. Christ Jesus. Now here's one most people don't
even know what I'm talking about. The testator. Who's that? That's the guy that
takes the will and makes sure that it goes to all the heirs. He's an heir. He's going to get
the... Yeah, you don't give that to him. You know anything about
it? Yeah, I know exactly what he... He gets you. He gets you. And personal faith is persuaded. It hears these things. It lays
hold on these things. It understands these things.
And as it does, it becomes persuaded. You know what, Paul? Ain't that
the word he is? I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded. How? through the Word of God. It becomes persuaded of His ability
to save to the uttermost, to the gutter most, all who come
unto God by Him. And personal faith is convinced
that Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
Huh? Ain't that what that says in
the scripture? To everyone that believeth. Well, y'all believe a little
different than me. Well, there's going to be a problem, man, because
he's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Personal faith lays hold on an
understanding of His accomplished redemption. He's not trying to
redeem, He's already redeemed. And I've got no contribution
in it. He died for us, He said, and
commended His great love while we were yet enemies, sinners. And personal faith sees in Christ
not a universal love. That's the only way that you
could apply the love of God to every individual to say that
his love is universal. The problem is he don't love
everybody. Oh, I tell you, old Ralph Barnard, Henry told me
that story himself one time. I've heard it told, but he told
me that story. He said, I was there. He said
they'd planned a citywide meeting. up in Ashland, Kentucky, and
had an evangelist coming in, and at the last minute, he got
sick. And they said, what we gonna
do? We got this big tent, we got all this entertainment, we
got all this stuff planned out, the food's cooked, what we gonna
do? Anybody here know anybody we
can get? One old fella said, I know one
old evangelist down in Texas. He said, let's give him a call.
Brock Barnard come up. And they did their thing, and
he got up to speak. Everything got real quiet in
the tent. Old Ralph wore his glasses down
like this. He looked down over them glasses.
He said, the two biggest lies ever been told. God loves you,
and Christ died for you. Boy, you could hear a pin drop.
And then he went on. to tell them what that meant.
God said, Jacob have I loved. And then he tells you why he
said it. That the purpose of God according to election might
stand. Not of him that worketh, but
of him that calleth. It's them. God loves his people. Believers understand that. He
loves his elect. Christ died for His people. The
Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. And the Holy Ghost ministers
to His people. He sends His gospel to His people. By grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. We're His
workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. So what that means is we'll go
to the hospital every afternoon, visit the sick. Now that ain't
what he's talking about. He hasn't changed the subject.
He's talking about faith. We're a new creation in Christ
Jesus and he created us unto good works. What good works?
Faith, repentance, prayer. They looked at Saul of Tarsus.
Well, he prayed his whole life and he may stand up just like
that proud Pharisee and pray. He prayed in the marketplaces.
They said, behold, he prayeth. He never done that before. Myself. Me neither. Repentance. Worship. All these
things. Not in all the Word of God can
I find even a hint that God loved Darwin Pruitt. And believe me,
I looked. I looked. It ain't there. Not in all the Word of God can
I find that Christ died for Darwin Pruitt. It ain't there. But it tells us clearly that
he loved Jacob, who represents all God's elect. So where's your hope? In that
person. In that person. Personal faith comes from knowing
and believing in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. And here's
what he said. Well, how do I know if I'm elect? You're up there preaching His
gospel, you're telling us that you're saved? You're hoping that God's going
to save somebody? How do you know you're saved?
I'm going to tell you. John chapter 6. Our Lord said,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Huh? If I can come to Him, He loved me. If I can come to Him, He died
for me. I'm one given Him by the Father. And you know them old Pharisees,
when they heard that, they got mad, and they started murmuring
around. He's trying to say he's bread
coming down from heaven. He said, don't murmur. No man
can. That's ability, isn't it? Can
is ability and may is permission. No man can come unto me except
my Father draw him. As it's written, they shall all
be taught of God. You know what that means? In God's time, by God's means,
by God's Spirit, by God's minister. That's what he's talking about.
They're all gonna be taught of God. And every man that's taught
of God is gonna come to Christ. Gonna come to Christ. He that believeth on me, he said,
hath everlasting life. He's passed from death. unto
life. You can't believe until you're
alive. My friend our God has a glorious
perfection of character. He's just. I don't have words
to describe how just He is. He won't overlook anything. Not anything. That was just a
little sin. Not to God it wasn't. God is
just. Everything he does and everything
he purposes is just. And he's righteous, perfectly
righteous and he's good. Moses said, show me your glory.
God said, I'm going to put you right back here. I'm going to
pass before you and I'm going to show you what? Oh my goodness. But he's going to show him his
justice. Yeah, but it's good justice. It's good righteousness. He's good, Moses said that. His
justice, righteousness, and even his wrath is good. Good master? Why callest thou
me good? There's none good but God. I'm
good with God. And He's merciful and gracious
in all of His attributes. This is what I want you to see.
All of God's attributes called His perfections, His character. They all work in perfect harmony
all the time. All the time. There's no compromise
in the character of God. And if you're listening to a
gospel that points to some flaw in the character of God, you're
not hearing his gospel. He's merciful and gracious. He said, keeping mercy for thousands
and forgiving, transgression, iniquity and sin. Now listen,
but I will by no means clear the guilty. All at the same time. All of His attributes always
working all the time in perfect harmony. And they never clash,
they're never compromised, they're never contrary one to another,
no schism in the character of God. Continual, eternal perfection
and harmony at all times. And let me tell you something,
that's what holiness is. Don't get holiness and righteousness
confused. God is righteous, and in that
sense righteousness has to do with holiness, but His holiness,
holiness means the wholeness of God. The wholeness of God. He said, I'm holy, be ye holy. How can I be holy in Christ? And ain't that what that says
over in Ephesians 1? He chose me in Christ. Now He's
blessing me with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ. That's my covenant surety. That I might be holy and without blame before Him
in love. Does that mean I'm sitting there
loving God? Well, you will if He saves you. You love God, but
that ain't what that's talking about. This is talking about
blessing before the foundation of the world. And He chose you
in Christ that you might always sit before Him being loved. Nothing can separate you from
the love of God because that love is secure in your Savior. god saves a sinner, he shines
the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ just
as, I don't know if you've even thought about this, but back
yonder in the book of Genesis the very first thing God did,
the very first work he did is what? let there be light so that's
when the sun was created no, the sun wasn't created until
the fourth day that ain't what he's talking about When God said,
let there be light, He was creating this world through our Savior. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. And He's
going to shine the light of His redemptive glory on all creation. That's why He created it. That's
why He maintains it. And that's why He'll preserve
it until the work is done. And as soon as it is, The Apostle
said, under the inspiration of the Spirit, it's going to come
so fast the elements will melt with a fervent heat, it will
be destroyed. Not even a trace of Satan's slime
is going to be left in this world. He shines the light of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He shines it into our hearts
and we see that flawless character of God, the sovereign God, the
omnipresent God, the all-knowing God, unchangeable God. We see
the whole character of God, now listen, engaged to save my soul. Who's going to lay anything to
the charge of God's will if God doesn't justify it? Boy, that justice takes on a
whole other look now, doesn't it? Now that justice is your
security. You've been justified. Justified. Who is he that condemneth? Christ
died. He paid the bill. Listen to our text. When the
Lord turned again the captivity of Zion. Oh, my soul. Wasn't you held captive? Oh,
I was. I was. I was. There's no way out. David
talked about his captivity. He said he brought me up out
of a pit. down in a pit. I couldn't climb
out. I couldn't crawl out. I couldn't
dig my way out. I was in a pit. And he brought
me up out of the pit. He took Joseph out of the prison.
Brother sold him into slavery. That's what this man of faith
is beginning to say. He's beginning to recall when
the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion. Who's that? That's the
church. They had them in captivity. They couldn't do anything until God ordered it. And then
the old king, he said, well, he said, let's see, y'all done
enough work. He said, I kind of like what you all talking
about. So why don't you take some men,
go back down to Jerusalem and rebuild your temple? What? Who put that in the king's mind? What's he doing? He's turning
their captivity. But ain't that what he does for
us? He does that for everyone else. You couldn't get loose. You couldn't climb out. You couldn't
break loose. You couldn't get out of the cell.
Wandering around in the darkness, talking about free will. Me and Jesus got a good thing
going. Thank God I didn't sing that song. But I sang others
that were just as bad. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. I read this in a dictionary.
I want to give it to you. What in the world is he talking
about? Like them that dream. Well the dictionary said that
a dream is a state of mind in which the dreamer becomes unaware
of his immediate circumstance. He don't know he's laying in
a bed. He don't know he's standing. There could be a fire. He don't
know what's going on. He's totally unaware of it. Remember
the old prophet down there in his tent His servant went outside
and the king had gathered his army and had camped all the way
around him. Boy, he run back in and he said, Master, Master,
we're in trouble. You need to come out and look.
He said, I don't need to look. The Lord opened that young man's
eyes. He went back out and there was
a heavenly army all the way around that army. Would dwarf that army. It's a state of mind in which
the dreamer becomes unaware of the immediate surroundings in
his circumstances. And then it says that a dream
is a cherished aspiration or ambition or goal. They wanted that captivity broken,
but they couldn't believe their eyes. They couldn't believe their
eyes. They couldn't believe what they
were hearing. Also he hath translated us from
the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. What
a transfer. I want that, don't you? But I
just can't hardly believe my ears. Can you? I saw. God look at you and say, Larry
Criss, I've loved you from the foundation of the ground. Huh? Oh, I want that. I want
that. But I just can't hardly believe
my ears. Lord, we believe, help thou our
unbelief. And then the third definition
of the word dream is someone or something perceived
as perfect. You men will know this. The girl
of my dreams. Oh my, you couldn't dream of
the perfection of Christ. You couldn't, you can't. We were
like them that dreamed. We couldn't believe our eyes,
we couldn't believe our ears, we couldn't believe what we was
hearing. Can that be so that God robed himself in human flesh
and come down and put away my sin that I have no sin to my
account. Listen to this. Paul said he
called us to the ministry. What kind of ministry? The ministry
of reconciliation. What's that? To wit. God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself Now listen, not
charging their trespasses unto them. He never did. Not from all eternity. He never
did. He put you in His Son and all
your sins and time was charged to Him. You picture Israel after years
of oppression and bondage down in Egypt, gathering up the straw
under the soldier's whip. You ever felt the whip of the
law? I can't do it. You will do it. There they are, every day. Gathering that straw, making
them bricks. Gathering up their own straw
under the soldier's whip, making bricks to build memorials to
a bunch of would-be gods. And God sends a man down and
he says to Pharaoh, only the grace of God. You talk about
the powerful grace of God, and I was thinking about this very
statement right here. God sent Moses down to Pharaoh's
palace. Pharaoh's the one who kicked
him out. The guards knew it, everybody
knew it. Moses walked right into the palace. Not a guard laid
a hand on him. Huh? Nobody said, oh, you can't come
in here. He went right into the throne
room. And he said, Pharaoh, I got a
message for you. God said, let my people go. And
he said, who do you think you are? And God showed him who he was,
didn't he? Oh, my son. He sent plague after plague after
plague. I got one message when I was
going through Genesis, and the title of it was, Eating and Sleeping
with Frogs. They were so sick of Israel and
those plagues that God laid on them, they said, here's the money. What else do you want? You want
this gold pot? Here, take that. Take it all. And God said, when you leave,
Not even a dog gonna bark in rebellion against you. You reckon
they was like them that dream? Oh my, they look there and there's
the Egyptians and they're just standing there watching them
leave, waving. Dog sitting there wagging his
tail while they went by. If God be for us, who can be
against us? When God turned our captivity,
we were like them that dreamed. Oh, I want to sing that song,
don't you? I want to sing about it. I want to tell everybody
about it. Deliverance in Christ is so far
beyond our imagination, so far beyond our ability, so far above
our expectation that when it comes, we simply feel the wonder. The only word that I could find
in the whole of the dictionary to describe it is surreal. It's like in a dream. I see it. But do I really? I see it. Oh, a hymn writer wrote, he said,
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. and wonder how he could love
me a sinner condemned unclean. He took my sins and my sorrows
and made them his very own and bore that burden to Calvary and
suffered and died alone. Can you sing the song of the
dreamer? Look down here at verse 2, Psalm 126 verse 2. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter, and our tongue was singing. Then said they among the heathen,
who's that? The one God turned their captivity. Abandoned there like those who
drink. Then said they among the heathen,
the Lord hath done great things for them. delivered for our offenses, raised
again for our justification. Verse 3, the Lord has done great
things for us. World, we're glad. Gave to us an inheritance of
God. Our Lord was about to leave and
the disciples were all sad. He said, In my father's house
are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I would have told you. I've held nothing back. I called
you my friends. If you was my servant, I wouldn't
tell you everything, but you're my friend, and I've told you
everything. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Now, I got to go, but I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. Great things, not little things. Like he said, he's not putting
the lamb down and saying, well, I could do about as far as I
can. No, he did great things. He didn't cure hiccups, he cleansed
lepers. You ever watch them idiots on
TV come up and smack the other one in the head and he goes back?
You'll never have another headache. Christ did great things. He told that old man he'd been
paralyzed for how many years, 27 years, 37 years? His whole
life he'd been paralyzed and here's the water being troubled
and people getting healed but he couldn't get from here to
there. Lord come by and looked at him and said, rise up, take
up your bed and walk. He couldn't, but he did. Why? Because he does great things. That's why. He told me in his gospel to believe. And I couldn't. But I did. Because he does great things. And you, Paul said, that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.
Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy. Holy, nothing in you contrary
to the character of God. Everything in your salvation
glorifies God. to present you holy and unblameable,
and listen to this, un-reprovable. Well, he's pretty good, but he
can do a little better. No, he's un-reprovable in Christ. Great things. He entered in once
into the holy place with his own blood and obtained eternal
redemption for us. Took a bunch of spiritual morons
and gave them the wisdom of God. How do you know those things?
Huh? They shall all be taught of God.
I have not seen nor heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. showed us things that the angels
fold their wings and look and listen, desire to look into. But you see it and the angels
can't see it. Made known unto us the mysteries
hidden from men from the foundation of the world. Oh, then was our mouth filled
with laughter and our tongues were singing. And then thirdly,
and I'll try to hurt you. Let's look at the results of
this. When God turns your cap to you,
and you're standing there like one who just can't believe his
eyes. You're just standing there filled
with wonder and amazement and gratitude. You still don't know
the depth of what's happened to you. But what happens after that?
Well, having experienced this deliverance, verse 4, he now
prays for more. Turn again our captivity. It was so sweet, so sweet, but
I wake up and I'm still in the flesh. I can't sing this song like I
want to. And so I pray to him, turn again. Turn again, my captain. Turn it, oh Lord, as the streams
in the south. I live in the south. Way south. And I'll tell you
what I've learned about the south. It's hot. It's hot. I went out one day and looked
at the thermometer. It was 112 on my front porch. But I was raised up in Kentucky,
and it gets pretty hot up there. But in July and August, my wife
knew where a little creek was. And we'd take my oldest daughter,
and we'd go out there to that creek. We'd peel them shoes and
socks off, and we'd go wade in that creek. Boy, it felt so good. Felt so good. What a comfort. What a comfort. He said, that's what this turning
of this captivity is like. It's such comfort, such a sweet
comfort. And you want it every day, every
day. Let me experience it over and
over, the turning again of our captivity and what a comfort
it is to the weary pilgrim. Way back yonder in Egypt, There
was a darkness that could even be felt, but God said, when I
see the blood, He said, I pass over you. And He whispers it to us every
day of our sojourn in this world. And then let's look at this in
Acwih, verse 5. He said, those that sow in tears
shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth
bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, with
rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. Now I know that the
first meaning of this is Christ. He sowed that seed and as surely
as he sowed it, he's gonna gather his weed into his barn. I ain't
with doubt in my mind about that. But it also speaks of you and
I. speaks of our mind and heart as we come to worship our great
God. We have, at the Master's consent,
a full bag of seed. Not what the Lord told them disciples
in his parable. He said a sower went forth to
sow. We have a full bag of seed. What
kind of seed? Gospel seed. Christ is the seed. To Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not to seeds as of many,
but unto thy seed, which is Christ. There's only one gospel, the
gospel is Christ. And we have a bag full. I don't
have one message. I don't know how long I've been
preaching. I don't know, 16, 17 years, I don't know. I've
never run out of seed, have you? People just worry, worry. I don't
know what I'm gonna preach. Preach Christ! Just try to exhaust
him. You can't do it. We who sow, we remember that
our being and our having that bag of seed is because somebody
else sowed. And that's why we go weeping.
We go weeping. Our hearts are overwhelmed with
gratitude and our eyes well up and tears begin to run down. And then we think about that,
he calls it precious seed. Oh my soul, how precious it is.
It's precious because of who gives it, and it's precious because
of the character of it, and it's precious because it's the only
seed of its kind. But in a little while, we come
back and the seed's sprouted. I garden a lot. And I know this
is foolish, but I plant stuff, I'll be out there the next morning. I even take the dirt and rake
it aside a little bit and move it. I just can't wait for it
to come up. And I've been preaching the gospel
for 15 years, and I tell you, I'm still excited. I want to
see it come up. Don't you? I don't know that I ever will,
but I sure want to. I sure want to. I want folks
to know what I know. Don't you want folks to hear
what you heard? feel what you felt, see what
you've seen. And I think of my children and
my children's children, do I weep over them? Or maybe here he's
talking about the tears of joy. He said we come rejoicing. He might be talking about tears
of joy. I'll tell you what, I get tears
of joy like up in Kingsport when I look back at that pew and see
my daughter. And now her husband. And my little granddaughter. And they're sitting there looking
and going. Oh, tears roll down my face. Tears of joy. Joy. Well, here's God's promise. He
that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless. Can you take that? Shall doubtless
come again, bringing his seed with him. Oh, may God make it
so. For the glory of his great name.