I want to talk to you tonight
about three felt things. Three things that are felt. Three things set before us in
scripture as things that people who know God feel. The first is the most painful
and most bitter thing. I've yet felt. The second is
the most blessed, most delightful thing you can ever feel. And the third I can't begin to
enter into yet. It's the most inconceivable of
the three. Now let me begin by making three
statements. The basis of our faith The single, solitary basis
of our faith in all things is the Word of God. That book you
got in your hand right now. Not our feelings, not our emotions,
not our experiences, but the Word of God Almighty. I was in California a couple
of weeks ago preaching I couldn't believe the fellow listened to
me preach the whole weekend. And after the last service, he
wanted to talk a little bit. And he came up to me and said,
I have a remarkable testimony. Would you like to hear it? And
I knew I didn't want to, so I didn't say anything. And he said, I
was dead. Had a heart attack and died.
Came back to life. And he went on talking and talking
and talking. And then he repeated the story
and talked and talked and talked, and a third time repeated the
story and talked and talked and talked. And he said, well, what
do you think about that? I said, don't believe a word
of it. Don't believe a word of it. Ain't so. He said, well,
you can't argue with my experience. I can't if your experience is
contrary to this book. Our whole basis of hope and faith
in all things is that which God Almighty has caused to be written
in his word. I fully agree with Martin Luther.
Someone asked him one time, Mr. Luther or Dr. Luther, they called
him. Do you feel that you are forgiven? He said, no, but I
am. For feelings come and feelings
go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God,
nor else is worth believing. With David I say, my soul fainteth
for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Thou art my hiding
place and my shield, I hope in thy word. Remember the word unto
thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. If you have a good hope by grace,
that hope that God, the Holy Spirit creates within the soul,
it is a hope that is based entirely and alone upon that which is
written in the word of God. Our feelings are no basis. Our hope is that which God declares. And if you want to know the reason
of my hope, if it is a good hope, I can point to something written
in this book and say there is the reason of my hope. I hope
because thus saith the Lord. I hope because this book declares
he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. This book declares he that believeth
on the son of God hath everlasting life. This book declares Christ
came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. And with
all those things, I can confidently identify. Well, do you have such
strong faith in the Lord? No, no. But faith in him, I do
have. I believe him. I trust him. That's all. That's all. I just
trust him. And that which God has caused
to be written in his word, he tells us plainly he has written
unto you that believe on the name of his son that you may
know, know by believing that you have eternal life and that
you may continue right on believing on the name of his son. Here's
the second statement. The basis of our faith, the only
basis of our faith, is the word of God. Second, that which is
revealed in this book, which gives me hope, is the person
and work of Jesus Christ, God's darling son. Christ is the foundation
upon which we are built by God. Christ is our hope. Paul tells
us in first Timothy one, one, we hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is my portion. Jeremiah
said, save my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. I hope in Christ covenant surety
ship. He who undertook for me from
old eternity assumed total responsibility for my soul when He struck hands
with the Father as my surety and the Father trusted His Son
as the shepherd of the sheep and gave His sheep into the hands
of His Son to redeem and save them every one. I hope in Him
because He is an effectual, almighty, surety, and Savior. I hope in
Him. He is my blessed, sin-atoning
Redeemer. He has by the sacrifice of Himself,
by His one sacrifice, by His one act of obedience to God unto
death. And all that he did as a man,
he did as one great act of obedience unto death. And by that act,
he has put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. He and
he alone is my righteousness. What is your righteousness? When
you think about your righteousness, God help you to be honest now.
What do you think about? When you think you are righteous,
what comes to your mind? What act? What thought? What
deed? What emotion? If any, you have
no righteousness before God. Christ is Jehovah Sidkenu, the
Lord our righteousness. The only righteousness I had
before God, if you want to use the term legally, is Christ and
His obedience on my behalf as my representative by whom I am
justified. And the only righteousness I
had before God personally Oh, you can't use that word. Oh,
yes, I can. Christ is my personal righteousness. The righteousness of God is Christ
in you. The hope of glory, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who obeyed the law of God for us and brought in everlasting
righteousness comes in his mighty grace and puts that righteousness
in us, making us new creatures in him. So that if there is any
righteousness in me, and if I'm in Christ, there is. It is Christ
living in me. That new man created in me. Christ, I trust as my advocate
with the Father. That one who pleads my cause
forever in heaven. Paul said, and I say with him,
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded. What a great word. I stand convinced that he is
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. All right, the basis of our hope
is this book. That which is revealed in this
book, that which gives us hope is the person and work of God's
dear son. Third, and I want you to see
that the good hope of grace The good hope of salvation, the scripture
speaks of. That hope that God gives to sinners
is something that is felt in the soul. It is felt inwardly
in our hearts. Now, there's much talk in these
days, much writing, folks who deem themselves intellectual
theologians who deride feelings and experience. Now, let me tell
you, and I state it as emphatically as I possibly can. If you ever
experience God's grace, you're going to feel it. You're going
to feel it. You can talk about love all you
want to, but unless it's in here, putting it on paper won't do
any good. If a person has been in prison and he is released
from prison, delivered out of the hole of a pit in which there
is no water, when he is brought to freedom and liberty, he feels
it. You might not feel pardon. You
can get a pardon on paper and know nothing about it, but forgiveness
you feel. Forgiveness is something that's
experienced in the soul. It is not something just declared,
but it is that which is experienced when our Lord declares our sins
are taken away inside us by his word and by his spirit. The Apostle
Paul writes like this. He speaks of God's saints as
a people rejoicing in hope. Now I don't know about you, but
I never heard tell of anybody rejoicing and not feeling it.
He speaks of the love of God that maketh not ashamed because
of the hope that we have makes not ashamed because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which
is given to us. I wouldn't give you a nickel
for any religion that's nothing but feeling. This religious age
is Pentecostal charismatic nonsense where folks just promote nothing
but emotionalism and feelings, just excitement. That's not Christianity. I wouldn't give you a nickel
for it. I wouldn't waste my time even thinking about it. And I'll
tell you something else. I wouldn't give you a penny for
religion doesn't have any feeling. None at all. I say with Peter,
blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
hath according to his abundant mercy begotten us again to a
lively hope, a lively hope, a hope that's alive within you and a
hope that is lively in you. And that hope is described like
this, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you. Living in you. Ruling in you. Governing you. Christ in you. Little boy asked his daddy one
time, he said, Daddy, if Christ is in me, wouldn't he stick out?
I expect he would. And if he sticks out, you feel
his presence. Lazarus was indeed raised from
the dead. And he felt life in his soul.
Christianity is a matter of the heart. Everything associated
with the experience of grace is a matter of the heart. Not
this organ that pumps blood through our bodies, but the deep seated
inner being of every man. It is a matter of the heart.
Faith is a heart work. We believe with the heart. Repentance is a heart work. We
repent before God in our hearts. Conversion is the turning of
our hearts unto God. If God turns our hearts, He turns
the whole man. But the work is a heart work.
Prayer is found in the heart. And unless prayer is found in
the heart, You can say all the words you want to, recite all
the prayers that men write out and count all the rosary beads
in the world and never know what prayer is. Prayer is found in
the heart where God puts it and it comes from the heart. And
if it doesn't come from the heart, it's just the muttering of words. And my God, I know what that
is. I hate those words. Say a prayer for me. Don't ever
say a prayer for me or for anything else. Never. Religious folks
say prayers. And sadly, most of the time,
Lindsey, we just say prayers. Oh, but prayer. Prayer in here. It comes from here. And if it's
not in here, and it doesn't come from here, writing out all the
prayer requests folks can conjure up won't make a prayer. All right? Now, turn to Exodus
chapter 10. I've gone through this book,
and I read this text in Exodus 10 the first time I read it as
I was going through preparing the sermons from Exodus, working
on this series of messages. I looked at this and thought,
God, give me wisdom and grace to preach what I believe you've
taught me here. And I found three things, three
specific things in this book, all of them physical things,
three specific things that men experienced and felt in this
book. Three things, just three things.
As far as grace is concerned, these physical things are all
pictures of spiritual things. And the first one is most bitter
experience I've ever known. The most painful thing I've ever
known. It's felt darkness. Exodus 10, 21. The Lord said unto Moses, Stretch
out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over
the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses
stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick
darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. Moses Stretches out
his hand God's law. That's what Moses represents
stretches out his hand over this land of darkness and Darkness
now is brought on the whole land of Egypt So dark were those three
days They saw not one another Neither rose any man from his
place for three days when the Lord God brought this
ninth plague upon the land of Egypt by which he destroyed the
land. That is to say, by which he destroyed
the land in a moral sense. In a moral sense, the land of
Egypt was not destroyed. It's still over there. What's
it mean, destroyed the land? What was the problem in Egypt? Creature, strength, and creature
confidence that calls the people of the land from the Pharaoh
on his throne to the servant in the field to rebel against
God. And God sent these plagues upon
the land by the hand of his servant Moses to destroy all confidence
and all strength in the people of Egypt. And at last Pharaoh's
magicians and his servants said, get rid of these people. The
land is destroyed. All confidence, all strength
is now taken away. And it was by a plague of thick
darkness, even darkness which may be felt. And when the holy
God of heaven comes in mighty operations of his saving grace,
when he sends his spirit to give life to dead sinners, the very
first task he has is to destroy creature confidence in the center. To destroy all confidence in
self. I've heard Brother Mahan tell
a story many times. Brother Ralph Barnard was preaching
in a meeting down in Texas, big meeting years ago. And after
the service is late one night, Brother Barnard didn't like to
be disturbed. After he'd gone to bed, he went to bed early. But late
one night, a woman called and said, said, Brother Barnard,
my son was at the meeting tonight and said, you've got to come
over here now. He's in hell. And Rolfe said, that's a good
place for him. Leave him there. He's hung up.
And folks in this religious world don't have a clue why. Oh, we
can't leave anybody in that condition. We can't leave somebody for God
to deal with them. We've got to step in as though
we were priests and somehow we can communicate grace to men.
No! When God begins to deal with
a sinner, that sinner is going to have all confidence in himself
destroyed. God brings darkness. The darkness of guilt. Felt guilt. The darkness of sin felt sin
upon the sinner to whom he is pleased to be gracious. The conviction
of sin is something felt. It's felt. Guilt is something
men feel in their souls. Turn to Lamentations chapter
3. Now I want you to see I'm not just pulling this out of
my head. This is exactly how the prophet of God here describes
this work of God's spirit. When he comes to convince a sinner
of his sin, he brings him in darkness. Lamentations chapter
3 verse 1. Jeremiah says, I am the man that
has seen affliction. How? by Moses stretching out
his hand, by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness, but not into light. Before God shows mercy, he always
causes grief. And both works of grace, the
grief and the mercy, That follow grace or the grief and the mercy
that follows grief are according to God's purpose Exactly as he
intends. This is God's method of grace. We don't verse 3 Surely against
me is he turned you ever been there? Made to know that God Almighty
has justly turned against you. You will never know that He has
turned away the fierceness of His anger until you know what
the fierceness of His anger is. He turneth His hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath He
made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath
builded against me and compassed me with gall and travail. He
hath sent me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
Verse seven. He hath hedged me about that
I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, he
shutteth out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with
hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked.
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret
places. He hath turned aside my ways
and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate, emptied
me. He hath bent his bow and set
me as a mark for the arrow. Made me to know the glittering
sword of justice was swinging over my head. He hath caused
the arrows of his quiver to enter into my range. I was a derision
to all my people and their song all the day. Nobody understood
what I was going through. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones. He hath covered me with ashes.
and thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot
prosperity and I said my strength and my hope is perished from
the Lord. There was a day when I lived
like all other men with absolute confidence that
I could have God's mercy whenever I wanted it. Imagine that. You too. And there came a day when God
shut me up and made me understand that mercy is his prerogative. And I had no claim on him. And
he took away every thought of peace for me. I was a derision
to myself and a derision to others. I can't tell you how I pray God
will do this for you if he hasn't. He discovereth deep things out
of darkness and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
He makes darkness his secret place. Clouds and darkness around
about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of
his throne. Look at another passage, Psalm
107. Verse 10, Such as sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
because they rebelled against the words of God, and contend
or despise the counsel of the Most High. Verse 12, therefore,
he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there
was none to help. They cried unto the Lord in their
trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought
them out of darkness in the shadow of death and break their bands
and sunder. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. For he hath broken the gates
of brass. and cut the bars of iron in sundown. Now, when the Lord God, by these
things, brings the sinner to utter helplessness and hopelessness
in himself, he finds hope in God. Jeremiah said, this I recall. I still have this in my memory. how God broke my teeth, how he
hedged me about, how he put chains heavy on me, how he crouched
for me as a lion to destroy me, how he laid in wait for my soul
as a bear before me, and I was terrified at the thought of God's
presence. But this I recall to my mind,
therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not concerned. It's good for a man to wait for
the salvation of the Lord, bearing the judgment of his sin in his
youth. All right. Turn, if you will,
to the book of Mark. Here's the second thing. The
first thing the Holy Spirit does in the center, in the experience
of grace, is to bring felt darkness into his soul. by the conviction
of sin. Then every sinner convinced of
sin is convinced of righteousness. Did you hear me? Every sinner
convinced of his sin is convinced of Christ's righteousness. Convinced
that Christ has done what he came to do because he's going
back to the Father. Convinced that Christ has brought
in everlasting righteousness and that everlasting righteousness
Demands two things it demands the perfect obedience of a man
The obedience of a man to God Almighty in all his will law
and character obedience of infinite worth and it demands perfect
complete satisfaction by the death of a man the death of a
man who is of infinite worth to God Almighty. And that man
is Christ, the God-man, our Savior. And if ever the Lord God gives
you grace to look on him and causes you to mourn because of
him whom you have pierced, If ever he brings darkness into
your soul and brings you to this light causing light to shine
out of darkness in the face of Jesus Christ You will say like
this woman here in mark chapter 8 If I can but touch him If I
can just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole I
said mark 8 mark chapter 5 look at it Verse 25, a certain woman, which
had an issue of blood for 12 years, stooped, weak, dying,
and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent
all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.
When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and
touched his garments, For she said, if I may touch but his
clothes, I shall be made whole. She came in her uncleanness,
in her weakness, in her corruption, in her death, and she had heard
about the master. And she said, if I can just get
to him, If I could just touch his clothes. Wonder why she said
that rather than touch him. If you touch his clothes, you've
touched him. If you touch his garments, the
garments of salvation, his righteousness, you've touched him. She said,
if I can just touch his clothes, I'll be made whole. Now watch
this. Verse 29. And straightway the fountain
of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she
was healed of that plague. Oh, my soul. The sweetest, most
blessed, most delightful thing I ever felt in my soul was standing
before God Almighty whole, made whole by His grace, cleansed
of all sin, made righteous before Him, healed of the plague of
my heart, healed of the disease of death that reigned in me,
made whole because God convinced me of Christ's righteousness. Turn to Acts 28. Let me show
you a third thing. And we won't be but a few minutes
longer because I don't know much about this yet. Before I read Acts 28, turn to
Revelation 21. Hold your hands there. Acts 28 verse 1. And when they were escaped, then
they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous
people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received
us, everyone, because of the present rain and because of the
cold. And when Paul had gathered a
bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, There came a viper
out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarian
saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, there he is. Viper hanging on his hand. They
said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer, whom
though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth him not
to live. Now watch this. and he shook
off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. Reckon how a fella feels no harm. I can feel harm. I can't imagine
feeling no harm, can you? I feel sickness. Somehow you
just don't feel health. I feel a fever, but I don't feel
when I don't have the fever. But Paul shakes off this viper,
this deadly viper that had bitten him, and he felt no harm. Soon. I'm going to know what he's talking
about here. You and I have been bitten by a viper. The viper
of hell, that old serpent, the devil. Oh, what pain the viper's
bite has caused us, is causing, and shall yet cause. But soon,
and it can't be too soon. We're going to shake off the
viper. And feel something no man on
this earth can feel. Rex, we can't even imagine feeling
it. No harm. No harm from the bite
of the adder of hell. No harm from the bite of the
cockatrice. No harm from the bite of the
dragon. No harm from the bite of the
serpent. Let's see if I can make good
on that. Revelation 21, verse 14. God Shall wipe away Now underscore
that next word Underscore it circle it put a star beside it
You won't understand it till it happens, but here's what it
says God shall wipe away all Tears from their eyes all tears. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
Now watch this. For the former things are passed
away. What causes your heart to weep? Gone. What breaks your heart? Gone. What concerns you now? Gone. What troubles you? Gone. What crushes your soul
with heaviness? Gone. Gone. The former thing. sickness, and pain, and sorrow,
and death, gone. How come? Because the cause of
it all is gone, sin. So thoroughly, oh my soul, so
thoroughly shall he complete his work of salvation, Destroying
the works of the devil. Is that why he came? Is that
what john said first john three he came he was manifested to
destroy the works of the devil He's going to destroy it all
of it So that not even the slime of
the serpent shall be found on his creation What about all our missed opportunities,
wasted opportunities, all our sins, all our unbelief, before he saved us in sins? Wipe all tears from their eyes.
You know what that means? When he gets done, We will have
suffered and never shall suffer any harm or any loss for having
fallen in our father Adam. He completely saves his own and
we shall forever feel no harm. Amen.