Good to see everybody again.
Enjoyed today and enjoying our time here. Turn with me if you
would to Psalm 126. Psalm 126 and while you turn
there. Brother Nathan's father, Joe
Terrell. had me out a few years ago. He
invited me to come out to Iowa for the weekend like this. And during the course of the weekend,
he told me the story of how the Lord revealed the truth to him.
And I've heard him tell other people this story, so I believe
he's okay with me telling it. But I love this story. I just
love this story. He was born and he grew up in
West Virginia. And I believe, I'm assuming actually,
that he went to college in Huntington. I don't know, but wherever it
was. It was near Ashland because someone
that he knew told him, when you get over there to school, you
drive over to Ashland and hear a man named Henry Mahan preach. So Joe did. He went a few times
and then he came back home. It was the end of the semester
or whenever it was, he came back home. He ran into that guy again
and the fella asked him, did you ever go hear Mayhem? And
Joe said, yeah, I went over there a few times. And the guy said,
well, what'd you think? And Joe said, it's all right. So he went on back to school.
And he went to hear Henry quite a few times now this next stint
or semester. And end of that semester, he
came home and he ran into that guy again. And he asked him,
he said, are you still going to hear Mayhem? And Joe said,
yeah, I've been to hear him quite a few times now. And the guy
said, well, what do you think? Joe said, well, he repeats himself
a lot. So he went on back to school.
You know, some time went on. He, during that process, started
attending 13th Street full-time, sitting under Henry full-time.
Came back home and ran into that guy again, and he told him, I'm
now sitting under Henry Mahan full-time. And the guy said,
well, really, what do you think? Joe said, he repeats himself
a lot, And I'm starting to get it. Now, why do I tell you that story?
It's because we only have one message. We only have one message. Joe said he repeats himself a
lot, and I'm starting to get it. Our Lord is so good and so
wise to give us one message. Isn't that what we need? One
message. Over and over and over. I love that song. Tell me the
old, old story. Tell it to me softly. Tell it
to me simply. Tell me the same old story. We only have one message. The gospel is a one-message gospel. And here it is, alright? Psalm
126, verse 3. It says, The Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we are glad. That's the message. That's the gospel. That's the
good news. The Lord hath done great things for us. And we're glad. The gospel, the true gospel,
is all about what He has done for us. That's the gospel. It's not what we're going to
do for Him. It's what He has done for us. The message of man having to
do something for God is no gospel at all. It's not good news at
all. Men are all over this town and
every other town in this country telling people what they have
to do for God and telling them it's good news. It's not good
news. It's not good news. It's actually
lies. Not only is it not good news
at all, it's a message of lies. A false message of lies. And
preaching a message like that only does two things. This is
all it does. It brings God down too low. And it brings man up too high. saying that man needs to do something
for God, that man could do something for God. It just brings God down
too low and it brings man up too high. The reality is God
is higher than the heavens. Man is lower than the dirt. Man is actually six feet under
to be exact. So what could man possibly do
for God? What could he possibly do for
God? Nothing. That's the answer. Nothing.
God needs nothing. That's an amazing thought, isn't
it? God needs nothing. God does not need us. God does not need praise. God has everything. God is everything. Man needs everything. God needs
nothing. Man can do nothing. God can do
everything, all things. So the truth to declare is, the
Lord hath done great things for us. And that's always the message,
how great things the Lord has done for us. That is always the
message. That's what the Lord told that
Gadarene man. Don't you love that story? That
man, he was possessed with evil spirits. He cut himself. He couldn't be bound by chains.
And the Lord came to him, specifically came to him. After he was finished
with this one man, he left. He came for one man. And he conquered
this man that no one else could conquer and nothing else could
conquer. He rid him of all those evil spirits. He clothed him. He sat him down and he put him
in his right mind. All that physical healing represents
his spiritual healing and it's good news when God comes to his
people. The Spirit of God comes to that
elect sinful child who is possessed with evil. Prince of the power of the air,
children of wrath, even as others. And God's Spirit comes to that
child and conquers him. He conquered us. which is glorious. I'm so glad
He conquered me. And He rids us of what is holding
us captive. And He clothes us in His righteousness. And He sits us down, He makes
us rest. For the first time, He gives
us true rest. There's so much struggle and
so much turmoil and so much, I'm not doing good enough, I'm
not doing good enough. And the Spirit of God says, rest,
Christ did good enough. And then He gives us that new
mind of repentance that truly sees who God is, truly sees who
we are, truly sees what salvation is, Well, for that man, when
the Lord was finished and he got ready to get in the ship
and leave, that man ran after him. And he said, I want to go
with you. And that's what we wanted. We
just want to be with him. But he said, I want to go with
you. And the Lord said, no, I want you to stay here. I want you
to go home to your family and go home to your friends and you
tell them how great things the Lord has done for you. And that's
the message that he has sent all of us with. How great things
the Lord has done for us. Every true called preacher of
the gospel declares the Lord hath done great things for us.
Great things. That is our message. It is an
ordered and sure, finished, accomplished, Message, the Lord hath done,
not will do. I was listening to a man, there's
a man in town and I know him and I know some of the people
who sit under him and I wanted to hear what he was saying and
he stood up and told him, the Lord is trying to do good in
your life if the devil would just stop messing it up. That
is a lie. He's not trying to do anything.
God has never tried to do anything. You know, He has a good plan
for your life. He's working for the good. All
things are working for the good. Hopefully, no, that's not what
it says. All things work together for
good. He's not trying, He's not planning,
He's not hoping. Everything that He has done is
done. It's done. The Lord hath done. Now, if we are His people, if
we belong to Him, what has He done for us? What has the Lord
done for us? The text right here says, great
things, great things. Don't turn, but Psalm 98 verse
1 says, marvelous things. The Lord has done marvelous things.
Psalm 115 verse 3 says, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. What has the Lord done? He has
done whatever he has pleased to do. Isaiah 12 verse 5 says, it's
excellent things. Known in all the earth. Mark
7.37 says, He hath done all things well. Everything that He has
done is gloriously perfect. It's absolutely perfect. We could
dwell forever on all the gloriously perfect things that He has done
in all the earth, but this is what I want to dwell on tonight.
how great things He has done for us. I just want to dwell
on some of the great things that He has specifically done for
His people. Look with me, if you would, at
Psalm 66. Psalm 66 verse 16. It says, come and hear all ye
that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. Oh, what he's done for our souls.
Our Lord gets the credit for everything that He has done for
us, everything that He does in this life, every single thing,
every physical thing, the health of our bodies, the health of
our minds, the provisions for ourselves, the provisions for
our families, everything that He does for us. We thank God
for all these things, but David said, greater than these things,
he said, let me tell you what he's done for my soul. Infinitely greater than my body
and my bank account. Let me tell you what he's done
for my soul. What has he done for your soul, David? In Psalm
23, he said, he restored it. He restored it. And He keeps on restoring it.
He restoreth. He restoreth. Aren't you so thankful
when He restores your soul? Do you feel like you are prone
to wander? Do you feel like you are dead? Do you feel like you are far? And then He restores your soul. In Psalm 30, David said, He brought
up my soul from the grave. He gave life to my soul again. You ever feel dead? You just
feel dead. That's why he said over in Psalm
103, look with me over there at Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 1 says, Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits. Forget not all the great things
that He's done for you. What has He done? Verse 3 says,
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. If we could only enter into that. If we could only enter into that.
He has forgiven all of our sin. All of the sin of all of his
chosen people. How did he forgive our sin? He took it into his own body. He took it into his own body.
I'm sure you've heard and told that illustration that Paris
Readhead gave back in the early 1900s. He was a missionary in
Sudan, Ethiopia. And they were walking through
the jungle with some native men and they heard a very faint voice
crying, somebody help me. Somebody help me. And they followed
that voice until they found a man laying there in the jungle in
the last stages of leprosy. And they said he was just eaten
up. His flesh was gone. His face
was gone. He just had bones sticking out. He was just a miserable sight,
laying there crying, somebody help me. And he said as he was
looking at that man, he felt so helpless. There was nothing
he could do for that man. He said, the thought went through
my mind that if I could pick that man up and put his flesh-eaten
face next to mine and his bones next to my body, and if I could
impart into him all of my health and take into myself all of his
rot, I would have some understanding of what it is that my Lord did
for me. How did He forgive our sin? He took it into His own body. He made it His very own. The sin that we are and the sin
that we have done, the sin and the sins. He made all of that,
everything that I am. Do you honestly say, we quote
this scripture, and we think, well, that's the Apostle Paul.
Do you ever honestly feel, oh, wretched man, that I am? Everything that I am. Every sinful
thing that I have caused myself to be, do you look back on your
life and say, I wish I had never done that? Those things that won't go away.
You did them 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and
it won't go away. Everything that I am, everything
that I've done, He took it into Himself and made it His very
own. He bore that burden to Calvary. The sorrow of it. You ever feel
guilty over it? And does it ever bring sorrow
into you? He said, I'm sorrowing even unto death. I'm so sorrowful
it could kill me. He made it His very own, the
sorrow, the guilt, the shame. He bore that burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Now that's a great thing. That is
a great thing. There's no word to describe the
glory of that substitution, the glory of that sacrifice. Verse three right here in Psalm
103 says, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy
diseases. One way or the other, whether
it's in this life or whether it's through death, he will heal
every disease that his people suffer from. Every single disease. He has made it so that in glory,
sickness will never touch his people ever again. That's a great thing. That is
a great thing. Verse 4 says, who redeemeth thy
life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and
tender mercy. Don't you thank God for mercy? Who satisfied thy mouth with
good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles? The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. They couldn't execute their own
righteousness and their own judgment, so He executed it for them. That's
a great thing. He made known His ways unto Moses,
His acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not
always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. He hath
not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. Why has He not dealt with us
after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities?
It's because He dealt with Christ after our sins, and rewarded
Christ with our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knows
our frame, He remembers that we are dust, As for man, his
days are as grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place
thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness unto children's children. To such as keep his
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them,
The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom
ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye His angels
that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of His word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His
hosts, ye minister of His that do His pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul." What great things. What great things. David said,
if you'll sit down and listen for just a minute, I'll tell
you what great things he's done for my soul. Look with me if
you would at Psalm 111. Psalm 111 verse 1, it says, Praise
ye the Lord, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the
assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of
the Lord are great." They're great. "...sought out of all
them that have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious,
and His righteousness endureth forever. He hath made His wonderful
works to be remembered." He wrote them down. He didn't have to do that. He wrote all of His glorious
works down in His Holy Word, by His Spirit. He revealed it
to His people. He's written it in their minds.
He's engraved it on their hearts. Verse 4 says, He's made His wonderful
works to be remembered. What do we remember about His
works? The end of verse four says, the Lord is gracious and
full of compassion. He hath given me unto them that
fear Him. He will ever be mindful of His
covenant. He will ever be mindful of His
covenant. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit made a covenant with each other concerning their
people. That's an amazing thought. This
is a great thing. God the Father said, to God the
Son and God the Spirit, He said, I will choose us some sinners
to save. God the Son said to God the Father,
if you will choose them, I'll redeem them. If you select who it is, I'll
give my life for them. I'll pay their debt. I'll set
them free from the curse and the bondage of their sin. If
you choose them, I'll save them. God the Spirit said to God the
Son, if you save them, I will call every single one of them
back to us. I'll quicken every one of them
and bring them back into that union. with us. That is the covenant
that God will be ever mindful of. He'll never forget it. The
Father said, I promise. The Son said, I promise. And
the Spirit said, I promise. And He said, I'll never forget
it. That's a great thing. Look at Isaiah 44 with me. Isaiah 44 verse 21 says, Remember
these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed
thee. Thou art my servant. O Israel,
thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto
me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forests, and
every tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob
and glorified Himself in Israel." That's a great thing. When He
made Himself to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. When he did that,
he redeemed Jacob, Israel, his people, and he glorified himself. He glorified himself in the process. That's what Isaiah 53 tells us
in verse 11. It says, He shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death. and
he was numbered with the transgressors and he bare the sin of many and
made intercession for the transgressors. The father said, because he made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant,
because he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross, therefore I'm going to highly exalt him. And I'm going to give him a name
which is above every name. And at the hearing of his name,
every knee is going to bow. And every tongue is going to
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. I think all the time about, you
know, all knees are going to bow. Salvation is when God kindly
allows us to bow right now. But in glory, we're still going
to bow. And at the name of our Lord, every time that name goes
forth, and you imagine a number no man can number bowing all
at the same time. And every time confessing. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. That's a great thing He's done
for us. Given us that heart to bow. Given us a heart that confesses
He is Lord. He is the Sovereign. He's the
Controller. He's the Ruler. Not me. Him. Now, let's close
with this. What is our response to what
He has done? Go with me back to Psalm 126.
Psalm 126 verse 3 says, The Lord, Jesus Christ, Jehovah God, the
Lord hath done. Finished. Accomplished. Settled
forever. Great things. Eternal things. Saving things. Undeserved things. For us. Sinners like you and me. Sinners. Us. Now here's our response. Okay, this is the response of
the us. Who did he do it for? He did
it for us. My question every time I see that is, who is the
us? Who's he talking about? He did it for a particular people.
The us. Who is the us? How can I know
if I'm one of the us? That's a good thing to know,
isn't it? This is how we can know. How can I know if I'm an
us? Here's how. Every soul that the
Lord has done these great things for will say, We are glad. Not mad. Not mad at the hearing of these
great things that He did without our help at all, by Himself,
because of how sinful we are and how dead we are. Not offended
at all at the hearing of these great things that He accomplished
for us in spite of us. Not mad, not offended, overjoyed. Overjoyed every time we hear
again how great things the Lord has done for us. Verse 1 says,
when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like
them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among
the heathen, even the heathen noticed it. Then said they among
the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord
hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again
our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that
sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him." The gospel is good news. It is
good news. When the gospel is preached,
the indifferent, alright, the indifferent, when the gospel
is preached, the indifferent gets sad. They don't have time
for this. Just let it be over. When the
Gospels preach, the indifferent get sad, the self-righteous get
mad, and sinners get glad. And I pray that He might make
it so with us. I really do. The Lord hath done great things
for us. I pray that He might cause all
of us to say, we're glad. Alright, Brother Drew, thank
you.