The book from which I read a
few moments ago is described in its pages as
the children's bread. We open this book, I wonder sometimes
if we just do it out of habit, do it out of tradition, or just
do it because we know that's what we're supposed to do and
without thinking about what this book is. This book is the children's
bread. When I want to eat and I'm hungry,
I go to this book. And I open its pages, and God
feeds my soul. Listen to this scripture. Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God he feeds. These words are bread to the
children of God because they speak of Christ who is the bread
of God sent down from heaven. This is where we find Christ.
You're not going to find Christ out in the woods or out on the
lake. You're going to find Christ in His word. You're going to
find Christ where His gospel is preached. That's where you're
going to find Him. And we find Him in this blessed
book. But the Bible is a strange book to those who don't know
God. It's a strange book. Its words
and its directions are lost in the mystery of things. It's like a fog. I can remember
reading the Word of God when I was young, and there was a
few things in there that seemed to make sense, and even those
things that seem to make sense now, looking back, made no sense
at all. It was a mystery. It was hidden
to me. And I'd read things in there,
but it was mostly just a mystery, hidden from the natural and the
carnal. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse
7, Paul said, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom. What is that wisdom? Well, he
tells us back up in chapter 1 in the last few verses. God hath
made Him, talking about Christ, to be unto us wisdom. You go
over into Proverbs and he begins to talk about wisdom. He's talking
about Christ. He's talking about Christ. We
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. And natural men,
Unregenerate men read this book and try to reason out its words
in the bias of religious tradition or worldly logic or individual
opinion, any of those things. And so they come away with many
and varied expectations. But everything the believer expects,
if you'll turn back with me to Psalm 62, Everything the believer expects
begins and ends with God. You've got unbelieving relatives
and you sit down with them and you talk to them about their
soul. This is where you have to begin, right here. All my
expectations, David said, begin and end with God. Listen to how
he says it. My soul David's a preacher, but
before he can preach to you, God has to preach to him. And
this is what's going on in this psalm. He said, my soul, wait
thou only. See it there in verse 5? Only
upon God. Now the literal translation of
the text is this. He said, sit thou in silence. until you receive a word from
God. That's the literal translation
of that verse. All of the believer's expectations
come from God, and all that he receives from God comes through
the Lord Jesus Christ. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal it. I can't know
anything at all, John, about God apart from Christ. It's just
imagination, it's speculation, it's tradition. That's all it
is. Listen to this, John 1, verse
18. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. God is
Spirit. We can't see Him, we can't hear
Him. What do we know about God? Everything I know about God I've
learned in Christ. Every bit of it. And I can expect
nothing. David's talking about the believer's
expectations. That's what I titled the message.
The believer's expectations. What does he expect? Why does
he expect it? Where does he look for these
expectations? What's the basis of it? Well, I can expect nothing from
myself. You read through this psalm.
I read it to you a few minutes ago. It includes all these things
in it. I can expect nothing from myself. He tells his self to be silent. Ain't that what he said? Be still
and wait. Wait. In Romans chapter 7 verse
18, Paul said, For I know that in me That is, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Ain't that what he said? Then
there's no point looking in there, is there? There's nothing good in there.
It's corrupt. And you look within for reasoning,
and you look within for logic, and you look within for basis,
and you come away with that which is corrupted because in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. Paul said he knew. How did he
know that? By the Spirit of God. That's the only way you can know
it. If I search for spiritual truth within, I'm looking in
an empty room. How many times did I tell you
that? You're looking in an empty box. There's nothing in there.
Darkness. Listen to David in Psalm chapter
51. This is what I preached on up in Danville. He said, I acknowledge
my transgression. And my sin is ever before me. My sin, he said. It's before
me when I read, and it's before me when I try to pray, and it's
before me when I attempt to worship, and it's before me when I go
to bed, and it's before me when I wake. The first thought I get
in the morning is corrupted. My sin, David said, my sin is
ever before me. And it tells me, don't look within.
Don't look within. It's before me in my thoughts
and in my every step. That man who is brought to God
and made to see his sin does not look to himself for anything
spiritual. He cries with Paul, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Because that's all it is. All
it is. That's Romans 7, verse 24. And
the believer knows by his experience of grace that he can expect nothing
from this world. Look here in this psalm, verse
4. They only consult to cast him
down from his excellency. That's all you're going to get
from the world. They delight in lies. They're blessed with their mouth,
but they curse inwardly. Don't look to the world. Don't go there for help. A man
gets under conviction, where's the first place he goes? To the
world. He goes over to his buddy's house. Man, I'm troubled. He starts telling him, he starts
giving him advice. You ain't any better off than
you was when you were looking in your own heart. The world. All the world is, is a culmination
of a bunch of you. That's all the world is. In your
flesh dwelleth no good thing. Well, get a thousand people together
and what you got? You got a thousand in their flesh dwelleth no good
thing. You see what I'm saying? That's the world. What do the scriptures mean when
they talk about the world? Paul said, you remember where
you came from? When God found you, you remember
where you was? You was without God in the world. What's he talking about? John said, love not the world. Ye are not of the world, our
Lord said. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. What's he talking about, the
world? Well, it means the fallen, corrupt nature of man. That's
what it's talking about. This world is the kingdom of
darkness over which Satan rules as its prince. Those who have been called by
the Spirit of God through the Gospel are called out of darkness. Isn't that what he said? Called
out of darkness into His marvelous light. By regeneration delivered
from the power of darkness He tells us over in Colossians,
and made meat, made meat to understand and receive that inheritance
of God. How did he do that? You were
translated into the kingdom of his dear son. That's how he did
it. Delivered you from the kingdom
of darkness. Being dead in trespasses and
sins is not just being charged with crimes worthy of death or
having charges against you. But Ephesians 2.2 defines this
death as walking according to the course of this world. Now
we see it. But he didn't stop there. He
said according to the prince of the power of the air. They're
both the same thing. Both the same thing. It has to
do with the natural behavior of fallen men. That's what he's
talking about when he's talking about the world. What men and
women call normal, that's what he's talking about when he says
world. The world. What they call acceptable and
normal, God calls an abomination. Can I prove that in the Word
of God? I sure can. I sure can. He said that which
is highly esteemed among men is an abomination before God.
Is that right? That's what they call normal. I was giving that illustration
of children, putting them in a room and giving them all kinds
of toys and everything, but there's a door there to an empty room.
You tell them, now don't go in that door. Go outside and see
where they go first. They walk right past every one
of them toys and go straight to that door and open it up and
look in and see what's in it. Somebody said, well, that's just
normal. That's what I'm saying. What's normal to you is an abomination
before God. Listen to this scripture. What
men and women call normal and acceptable, God calls vanity. Verily He said, every man at
his best state, at his best state, is altogether vanity. Now that's what God said. I cannot
look to myself for spiritual knowledge because in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. I cannot look to the world for
help because the world knows Him not. He was in the world. That's what John said. And the
world was made by Him. And the world knew Him not. Ain't that what it said? He told
those Pharisees, He said, I know you that you have not the love
of God in you. You can't look to the world.
Can't look to it. And you cannot look to worldly
religion because they're all deceived. What religion is, and
I'm talking about worldly religion, what worldly religion is, is
the world dressed up. That's worldly religion. Paul
told Timothy, he said they go about deceiving and being deceived. That's how he describes them.
They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They're
ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. And our Lord called them blind leaders of the blind. And
he said, if the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall in the
ditch. You see what I'm saying? I can't look to myself because
in my flesh, well, it's no good thing. And I can't look to the
world because that's just a culmination of people just like me. By one man's sin entered into
the world and death by sin, spiritual death. They're dead in trespasses
and sins and they all walk according to the course of this world.
I can't go there and find it. And I can't go to religion because
they've been deceived. This is worldly men who know
not God. Blind leaders of the blind. He
called them hypocrites and blind. He said, you come from sea and
earth to make one proselyte, one convert like unto yourself,
and when you've made him, he's two-fold more the child of hell
than you are. He called them vipers, deadly,
venomous predators, wolves in sheep's clothing, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into servants of Christ, transforming
themselves into ministers of righteousness. And he figures
them in time as an idolatrous city called Babylon, the city
of idolatry, the city of man's works and will. And he describes
them as a harlot selling her temporary pleasures at the cost
of your soul. Don't look to religion. Don't look to yourself. You can't
look to the world, and you can't look to religion. Where does
a man go? David said, wait. Oh, my soul,
he said, wait. Wait upon God. Wait for a word
from Him, because you're not going to find it anywhere else. You're not going to find it.
You can find words. You can find things to expect,
but they're all false. You see what I'm saying? David
said, wait, my soul, wait only upon God. Wait upon Him. Don't look to religion, expect
truth. Paul said they've departed from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils,
speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared
with a hot iron. Wait, wait thou only upon God. When God does speak, what do
we expect? Huh? What do we expect? Isn't that what men talk to you
about? What do you believe? I believe what God said. by the
grace of God. What exactly do believers expect?
Believers expect God to be true to His Word. True to His Word, wait a minute.
Think about that. Paul said, let God be true in
every man a liar. That's taking God at His Word,
ain't it? Listen to David. He said, Thy Word is a lamp unto
my feet and a light unto my path. I ain't going down that old trail
through the woods with all them snakes without a lamp, are you?
I ain't. I want light. And this is where faith begins,
on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ himself
being our chief cornerstone. This is the foundation, Russell,
the Word of God. Peter said, we've not followed
cunningly devised fables preaching Christ. We were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. We saw him on that hill transfigured
before our very eyes and heard a voice out of heaven. But he
said, we got a more sure word of prophecy than that, whereunto
you do well to take heed until the day star dawn and appear
in your heart. That's Christ. My friend, you'll never get first
base in this thing of seeking the Lord until you've been shut
up to the Word of God. You're going to have to take
what mama said, and daddy said, and brother said, and your sweet
old aunt said, and throw it out the window, like Paul carried
out to the dung heap, and lay it down, and wait on God. Open this book and wait on God. You might not like my explanations
of things. That's all right with me. Go
home and open this book and read it. Read it. And examine that
in the light of what I said. Wait on God. God's testimony
of sin. I just don't think I'm all that
bad. What'd God say? He said you was a whole lot worse
than what you thought you was. You remember that Wednesday night,
somebody here, William or somebody invited a fellow and he come
up front. He got here early. I don't know
what he was expecting, but he was going to make a show that
night. He was going to get down on his
knees and he was going to make a big religious show and make
a profession of faith. He paced back and forth and wandered
around. Pretty soon he said, all right,
here's about three or four of us here. He said, y'all gather
around. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to all kneel
down here, and I'm going to pray. And I said, no sir, that ain't
what we're going to do. I said, what you're going to do is shut
up and sit down. And what I'm going to do is get up there and
preach to you and me. And he did that. He sat down. And he
kept telling me what a vile sinner he was and everything. And I
got up and preached that night and told him what a vile sinner
he was. And he got offended and got mad and went home and hadn't
been back. God's testimony of our sin. You see what I'm saying? Don't
matter what you think, what God say. All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Huh? What thing soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth
be stopped and sit guilty before God. Shut
up. That's what David said. Be silent
and wait on Him. Wait on Him. God's testimony
of the fall of man. God's testimony of Christ and
salvation. God's testimony of His death,
burial, and resurrection. God's testimony. Listen to this
over here in 1 Corinthians, I think it's chapter 15. Let's see if I can find it here real
quick. Look up here in verse 1. Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you. which also you have received
and wherein you stand, by which also you're saved, if you keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which
I also received, how that Christ Jesus died for our sins." That
ain't all of it. What else does that say? According
to the scriptures. That's where the difference is,
isn't it? and what religion says about his death, and what God
says about his death. And that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. See what I'm
saying? This is God's testimony of his
death, burial, and resurrection, and God's testimony concerning
his church. The Lord said to the Pharisees
in his day, these religious men that even the apostles themselves
honored. And they came to Christ and listen
to what he told them. He said, if you had believed
Moses, you would have believed me. For Moses wrote of me. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy. Moses, he wrote of me. You believe
me if you believe that. You don't believe that. You just
memorized it. You just quote it like a polyparent. Faith begins, continues, and
ends with the Word of God alone. And to wait only upon God is
to rest in His Word. What else do believers expect?
They expect God to honor the means that he's ordained. Have there been some exceptions
to it? Perhaps. John the Baptist seems
to be an exception, don't he? So am I going to start looking
down at the hospital where the babies are born to find out who's
born of God? Is that where I'm going to go?
No. I ain't going to make the exception the rule. I'm going
to go over here where God talks about his means And then I'm
going to go try to take advantage of them by the grace of God. He honors the means that He's
ordained. What are those means? It's the
assembling of the saints together. He tells us not to forsake that. If it wasn't important, He wouldn't
tell us that, would He? It's important. The preaching
of the Gospel. Please God through the preaching
of Christ. through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And prayer, preaching, gathering
together to worship and prayer becomes more than just a tradition
when we realize that these are the means ordained of God to
save His elect. Listen to this. God has from
the beginning, this is over in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto, Paul said,
He called you by our gospel. In other words, that's what that
means. He called you by our gospel. Listen to this, Romans 1 verse
16. Paul said, with everything in
him, he was ready to preach the gospel to them that weren't wrong. For, he said, I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. And the church, the visible assemblies
raised up wherever it pleased God to do it, stand as the pillar
and ground of the truth. That's why they're there. They're
the pillar and ground of the truth. They support and enable
pastors to minister the gospel, not only to them and to teach
them and their children and the neighbors around here, but through
whatever effects or doors the Lord's pleased to open. The church
and prayer. Listen to this. James says, the
effect so fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. If there was
nothing to prayer, and that's what some folks seem to believe.
There's nothing to it. There's nothing to it. It's not
important. This is one of those little things. You can leave
it off if you want. If there was nothing to prayer, why did
the Lord of glory give himself to it? Surely, if there was any man
who didn't need prayer, it was Him. And He prayed. And He prayed a lot. And He prayed
often. There's no need for prayer. Why
did the Lord of Glory give Himself to it? And why would He teach
and encourage His disciples to pray? After this manner, He said,
you pray. And why would he instruct the
churches to teach prayer? The man who truly experienced
the grace of God in his soul is left praying. Praying. The Lord told Ananias, He said,
you go down to the street called Strath. And there in the house
of Judas is one called Saul of Tarsus. He said, Behold, he prayeth. He prayeth. Paul? Yeah, Paul. That one who persecuted
the church? That's the same one. That's why
he said, Behold, he prayeth. There's no purer to me evidence
of regeneration than the soul of a man crying out to God. Prayer. He cries out. Isn't that what, I can't quote
the verse exactly, but over in Galatians, when Paul talks about
that, that son, when God sends His Spirit into his heart, what
does he do? He cries, Abba, Father. He never
cried that before. See what I'm saying? Believers
expect God to honor His Word, and they expect God to honor
His means. I tell you, if you ever get hungry, you won't despise
the hand who holds out the food. As long as you're proud, you
ain't going to take it. Get hungry. Get hungry. And there's a fellow
there with a basket. You eat it. And you'll be glad
to get it. If you ever get lost, you won't
despise the man who says, go that way. Go that way. And if you ever, if God ever
takes All the avenues of help away. It makes your soul to wait
on Him. You'll say with the prophet,
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace. You'll be happy. What else does
a believer expect? He expects God to be pleased
with him and reward him with full benefits as a loving, faithful,
honorable son. based totally on the person and
work of Christ. Well done, thy good and faithful
servant. I think a man in here don't blush
when he thinks about that. Good and faithful? Me? No, your
substitute, your representative. That's right. But it's as much
yours as it is his. That's right. God's character demands absolute
perfection. The rich young ruler came to
Christ with every advantage a man could have. He professed himself to be righteous,
professed himself to be honorable, professed himself to be willing
to serve. He was rich, he was prudent,
he was educated, he was religious, he was dedicated, and the Lord
sent him away sorrowful. And the apostles looked at this
and said, who then can be saved? Huh? This is what churches are
looking for. This is exactly what they're
looking for. That whole front row of deacons would unseat themselves
and run back and grab him and say, come on up here, sit in
my seat. Come on up here. That's exactly
what they're looking for. The Lord sent him away. And they
said, well, who then can be saved? Now listen, with man, it is impossible. Ain't that what he said? Russell, that ought to stop it,
shouldn't it? You can't do it. That's what
he said. It's impossible. He didn't say it was hard. He
didn't say it was difficult. He said it's impossible. What the Lord requires from the
sinner is to lay himself into the arms of his Savior, expecting all that is required
to save his soul to be provided by Him in whom he's trusted himself. That's what it is. Crawl up into
the arms of Christ and lay there. Nothing else. Nothing else. His priesthood sufficient to
intercede on your behalf. His righteousness sufficient
to please the all-seeing eye of the holy God. His blood sufficient
to put away his sins and satisfy the justice of God. His resurrection
sufficient to justify him before God. His ascension sufficient
to seat you in the heavenlies next to Christ. And His glorious
rule sufficient to preserve and protect you from all your enemies. Lay yourselves into the arms
of Christ and let go. And lay there silent before Him
in full expectation. That's what David's praying over
here in the psalm. Hebrews 11 verse 5 said, Enoch
was translated that he should not see death. And he was not
found because God had translated For before his translation, he
had this testimony. Not before men, but before God. He had this testimony. He pleased
God. Whoo! That's a mouthful there. He pleased God. But, he said
without faith, it's impossible to please Him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. I must believe that He is as
He is revealed and as He is declared in the Word of God and in the
substitutionary work of Jesus Christ and that He can reward
us in this coming without compromising His own glorious name. We expect God to honor His Word,
honor His means, and reward our coming to Him based totally on
the righteousness and sacrifice of another. What else does that
man whose mouth has been shut, who sits here silent before God,
and God speaks to him, what else does he expect? He expects God
to call out all of His elect, give them life by the indwelling
of His Holy Spirit, and preserve them in faith until they go to
sleep in the Lord. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1 verse
3, he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept. See that? by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
day. I expect that, because God promised
it. Kept by the power of God through
faith. Perseverance and preservation go hand in hand. We're exhorted
to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling, yet with
the full understanding that it's God that worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. Were it not for the
blessed presence of God's Spirit dwelling in us, we'd all slip
away into the darkness. That's exactly what we'd do.
We'd just bow out. Paul's confident expectation
was that he which had begun a good work in them. He starts, I think
it's along about verse 5 of Philippians 1 or 6, right along in there.
His confident expectation was that God who had began a good
work in them would perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
The just shall live by faith, he said, but if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Hebrews 10, 39. But we are not of them that draw
back unto perdition. Why? Because we're kept by the
power of God through faith. And then last of all, believers
who look to God alone for all their expectations Expect when
they close their eyes in death to open them again in the arms
of Christ. I never go to a funeral that
I don't think about that. John, one of these days you and
I are going to close these eyes for the last time. But they're
going to open again. What will they see when they
open? The believer expects to see his Savior, see his Lord. And he expects it in his heart.
He expects it in his heart. Everlasting peace and rest and
happiness. Everlasting joy. They'll hunger
no more. They'll thirst no more. That
heavy heat of the sun will never again land on their faces. For
the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them
and shall lead them unto living fountains of water. And God himself
shall wipe away all tears." You think about that. New heavens
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Oh, no wonder
he said, my soul, my soul. What's my hope this morning?
I hope that your hope will be the same as mine. And that you
can say with David and relate to these old prophets when they
prayed before God, wake my soul. only upon God, for all my expectations
are from Him. May God be pleased to do it.