I ask you to turn with me again
to the psalm which Brother Joe read a few moments ago. Psalm
130. Psalm 130. The psalm begins with a most unusual
expression. A most unusual expression, out
of the depths. I looked that word up, out of
the depths. Most of the writers agree it's out of affliction.
Several words are used. Out of affliction, out of infirmity,
out of a deep sense of guilt, that word was used. Out of a state of inability,
mourning, out of the depths have I cried, O Lord, unto thee. Most religionists won't agree
with what I'm about to say. They won't even understand it,
let alone agree with it. But I know you will. You'll understand
it, and I think most of you will agree with it. We're wrong when we think that
we're being heard by God in prayer, when we have a high opinion of
our own faithfulness and our own goodness. there's a good
possibility when you feel the most qualified to pray and the
most worthy to call on God is the very time when you're never
hurt. Good possibility. Our Lord gave an illustration
along that line when he said a Pharisee went into the temple
to pray and he prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee that
I'm not like other men. Now this man was speaking out
of his convictions, he really wasn't like other men. He didn't
believe he was like other men. And the things that he said about
himself were, in the eyes of people, in his own eyes, true.
He said, I fast twice a week, more than you require. I give
alms of everything I possess. He said, I'm no adulterer. I'm
not unjust. I'm not an extortioner. And our
Lord said he wasn't even heard. He wasn't even heard. So sometimes
when we feel like praying, and when we feel like we're worthy
to call on God, and we're worthy to come into the presence of
God, and we have a high opinion of ourselves, our goodness, and
our faithfulness, that's a good possibility that that's not the
time that God will even hear us, or even entertain our presence. But the very best prayer comes
from a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and our Lord illustrated
that. He said there was a publican who stood afar off and would
not so much as lift even his eyes. Men used to lift their
hands in prayer. Perhaps you see churches on television
and other places that people are raising their hands. The
Bible says something about lifting the hands. Well, this man would
not so much as lift even his eyes to heaven. But with downcast
eyes and a broken heart and a broken spirit, he smote upon his breast. And he cried out of the depths
of affliction, out of the depths of mourning, out of the depths
of guilt, out of the depths of infirmity, O God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And our Lord said he was not
only heard, but he was justified. He was justified. The man who
is most likely to be heard by God. I want you to think about
this some more. The man that is most likely a
woman, young person, who's most likely to be heard by God is
the man who calls on God out of a need, a personal, severe,
crying need. For example, suppose you were
going to give someone some assistance, some arms. You were going to
help someone. Who is the person you prefer
to help, the person you're most likely to help? I'll tell you
who it is. It's the person who has a real
need. Now, that's the person you're
most likely to help. That's the person to whose rescue
you will run quickly. You'll come to their assistance
more quickly if you recognize there is a need. If there's anything
you hate to do, it's to give to someone who doesn't need it.
They just don't need help. They don't need your assistance.
You don't bake a complete meal and take it down to a home where
they don't need it. You take it to where they do
need it. And that's when you get the most joy and the most
satisfaction is meeting the need of a man who really has a severe
need. And that's what our Lord said.
I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He
said the well do not need a physician, it's those who are sick. Go and
learn what that means. And what I'm saying is this,
I'm trying to encourage, I'm trying to encourage everybody
in this congregation who has a need to call on God, that is
in Christ, I wouldn't call on God without Christ, or out of
Christ. I wouldn't dare approach God's
presence except in the name of Christ. Our Lord said, whatsoever
ye ask the Father in my name, it shall be done. And I would,
if you're here tonight and you have, if you have a severe sense
of unworthiness, unworthiness to call on God, unworthiness
to come into his presence, if you feel a great load of guilt,
depression of spirit, and mourning of heart because you're so wicked,
wicked in your thoughts, and ungodly in your imagination,
and you feel so unclean, and impure, and full of iniquity,
and sin. And I say, call on the Lord.
Call on the Lord. But I just feel like good men
ought to pray. It won't do them any good. God
won't hear them. God doesn't hear good men. He
hears sinners. Isn't that right? Those are the
people who called on him when he was here. He hears sinners. David said, out of the depths
have I cried. Out of the depths have I cried.
This is inspired. This is God-breathed. Out of
the depths of need. Out of the depths of unworthiness.
Out of the depths of infirmity. Out of the depths of affliction.
Out of the depths of helplessness. Now, I don't dare encourage you
to come into God's presence except through Christ, the Mediator.
There's one God and one Mediator between God and men, and that's
the man, Christ Jesus. And God will accept us in the
Beloved. He'll love us in Christ. He'll
forgive us in Christ. He'll redeem us in Christ. He
that believeth on the Son hath life out of Christ. Our God's
a consuming fire. It would be better for the great
high priest of old to have gone into the holy of holies without
an atonement than for you to come into the presence of God
without Christ. They'll haul him out dead, and they'll haul
you out and me out the same way if I go without Christ. I dare
not approach God without Christ, but I encourage you, let me encourage
all who say they have no right to pray, you are the very people
whom ought to pray. I encourage all who feel like
they have no right to come to God and no right to call upon
God. You are the one who, you're the
people who do have an invitation to come. He says, come unto me,
all ye that labor in a heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Look at the second verse here.
Out of the depths have I cried, O Lord. Look at the second verse. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication." Now, my
friends, we are never heard by God for the eloquence of our
words. God does not hear men because
they pray eloquently. God does not hear men because
they phrase their petitions in a certain fashion. That's not
why God hears them. We're not heard for our much
speaking, the word of God says, that is the number of our words.
We're not heard for the eloquence of our words. We're not heard
for the number of our words. We're not even heard for the
orthodoxy of our words. Just go through the word and
listen to some of these people God heard. Here's the public,
and I mentioned a moment ago, as he smote upon his breast and
he had a one-line prayer, God be merciful to me, the sinner.
Hear the Apostle Peter as he was trying to walk on water,
and he saw the clouds, and he heard the wind, and he felt the
waves, and he felt himself sinking. Oh, Lord, save me or I perish.
Not much eloquence there. Not a very long prayer. He didn't
have very long to pray. Listen to the thief on the cross.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. These people
were all hurt. Listen to the centurion, Lord, I believe, help
thou mine unbelief. Christ, here was a man with a
sick child, and the Lord said to him, the man had said, your
disciples couldn't help him. If you can do anything, help
him. The Lord said, if you can believe, all things are possible
to them that believe. Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief. There's no eloquence there. There's no long petition. There's no particular orthodoxy. We are heard, I believe I can
say this without being the least bit afraid, that it's contrary
to the word. We are heard, if I choose one
word, not the eloquence of our words, nor the number of our
words, nor the orthodoxy, but we are heard, I believe, by the
sincerity of our word. I believe that's the word I want.
He said, let the pot sherds of the earth strive with the pot
sherds of the earth, but let not a man strive with his maker.
Brethren, if we're going to play some games, we better play them
somewhere else except before the throne of God. I told the
men tonight in the study, the thing that had me so upset this
morning, and I'm still upset, my grandson, eight years old,
was invited to go to a church last night, a church in Catlesburg. I don't even know the name of
the church. But they were showing this film. Burning hail anybody
ever heard of it a raging inferno raise your hand. Have you seen
the advertisement? No It's ungodly. I don't care who put it out But
this little boy eight years old Who has some knowledge or understanding
he's been here he was here this morning and Doris his grandmother
talks with him a great deal and we love him. We want him to know
Christ and I never put any pressure on children, on mine or yours
or anybody else's. I want them to know Christ. Well,
he called me. His mother called me last night
about 10 o'clock, and she told me that he wanted to be baptized.
He was going to be baptized today. I said, where? In a church in
Catlisburg. Why? He made a profession of faith.
I want him to talk to you. His daddy wants him to talk to
you. He's disturbed. He's crying. He's torn up. He went to see a film, and then
she mentioned that. I knew what it was. I knew what
they'd done to him. I knew what the crooks had done.
And I got him on the phone, and I told him, now, son, I don't
want you to be baptized up there. I said, you have a church right
here, and your granddaddy's a preacher, and I know the gospel, and I
love you, and I love the Christ, and I love the gospel. I want
you to be saved. And when you want to be baptized and you want
to confess Christ, I'll baptize you. I'm not going to turn you
away because you're a child. But I said, they've got you scared,
son. They tricked you and talked you into a profession of faith.
Now, you come to church here in the morning and go eat dinner
with me, and we'll have a long talk. You're scared. And so we
talked this afternoon. And this is what happened. His
friends go to this church. Now, let me warn you. And I know
a lot of people here think, well, You know, our neighbors go to
this church. We let our children go with them. You better watch
out. They're preachers and crooks. They're not interested in the
souls of those children. They're interested in their numbers.
They're interested in filling those pews. They're interested in building
their reports. And they're interested in building
themselves a name, 95% of them. And they'll make merchandise
of the souls of your children. They will. And this little fella
went up there with his friend, and they had this film on a burning
hill, showed people in hell burning, showed people getting their heads
cut off, knives stabbing people, wrecking on motorcycles and going
to hell, you know, burning in hell. That scared him to death.
Scared all the kids to death. And the preacher got up after
it was over and wondered how many of them wanted to go to
heaven. Well, they all did, you know. Well, will you pray this prayer
after me? And the prayer was, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
And they all prayed it. He said, now, if you prayed that
prayer, come down here. And he said, I went down because
I prayed the prayer and he told me if I prayed the prayer to
come down. So he got them all down here. He said, now you children
go back, you kids go back in the back and I'll come back and
talk to you. And so he went back and talked to them and got all
their names on a card and said, you'll be here tomorrow and I'll
baptize you and you can go to heaven when you're done. All crooks aren't in jail. There
are many of them in the pulpit. And I just say this to you, and
I said to me in the study tonight, I don't feel like we're the only
church preaching the gospel, but we're one of the only ones.
And I would say to you, don't let your children go anywhere
unless you go with them and unless you have some assurance that
that preacher's not going to make merchandise of their soul.
Bob said to me, it's the same thing as if a little kid had
a $5 bill. and you conned him out of it. He had a $5 bill. That's all he's got. He's got
his allowance, and you come along, sell him interest in a gold mine,
or stock in a gold mine, take his $5 bill away from him. You're
not nearly as big a crook as that preacher who promises him
pie in the sky and a sweet by and by if he'll make a profession
of religion. Many of you, if you've gone through
this, you made professions when you were kids. Some preacher
talked us down the aisle, promised us these things. But oh, the
living Lord God, he saves sinners. And if you're not a sinner, you're
not a candidate for redemption. I want so much to see people
come to a conviction of sin and a knowledge of who Christ is
and come to a real personal relationship with the Son of God. And I told this little fella,
I said, salvation is not in baptism, it's not in making a profession
of faith, it's not even praying the sinner's prayer. It is coming
to a living relationship in your heart with Christ, who is merciful
and gracious to sinners. He receives sinful men. And I
said, what I want you to do, and what I want all of our young
people to do, come if you're 8, 9, 10, or 11, and God's done
something for you, confess Christ. Follow the Lord in baptism. But
what I want you to be assured of in your heart is this is a
total commitment. This is a reality of faith. This is not a sham profession
to keep out of hell. I really do not believe. Now,
I know by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. I know
that. And I know there's a certain attitude within us that fear
keeps us from doing some of the things that our flesh says do.
But now that's a bad motivation for coming to Christ. That's
a bad motivation just to keep out of hell. And that's where
you ought to think they ought to ban that picture. It'd never
be shown here. We come to Christ because we
love Him. We trust Christ because we love Him. Now, really and
truly, if you're bigger than another fella and stronger than
another fella and more powerful, you can get Him to do anything
you want to. And if I come to God, and if I'm here worshiping
tonight because I'm scared God's going to send me to hell, That's
no worship. I'm not worshiping him because
I love him or because essentially in himself he's worthy of worship,
and he's worthy of glory, and he's worthy of my praise, and
he is God. Let me tell you something. If
there is no hell, he's worthy to be praised. If there is no
punishment for sin, if all men universally will be saved someday,
he's still worthy to be praised. He's still worthy of glory. He's
still worthy of worship. He's still worthy of obedience.
I'd want to know Christ if there is no hell. In fact, actually,
I would want to go just the way I'm going. I can't think of anybody
that I'd rather walk the road of life with than you. Really,
I can't think of anybody. I wouldn't want to be with that
outfit if there wasn't any hell. They're in hell now. Their lives
are hell now. There's no trust, there's no
confidence, there's no love, there's no compassion, there's
no affection, there's no genuine relationship, there's no real
fellowship. They're not having any fellowship
out there. The fellowship's in Christ. So hell has nothing to
do with it. Like Ed Stephens said to me this
afternoon, he said, my mind doesn't dwell on hell. I said, mine doesn't
either. The issues with me, the two issues with me, Christ and
sin. I want to know Christ and I want
to be forgiven of my sin. It's not heaven and hell. Wherever
Christ is, it's heaven. I'm enjoying a little bit of
heaven right now, on the way to heaven. There's a whole lot
of hardship and trial and difficulties, of course, but it's not near
the hardship if I didn't know Christ. It's not near the hardship
I'd experience if I didn't have a relationship with him. He gives
me peace. He gives me joy. I have a joy and a peace and
a rest in my soul that you can only find in Christ. So then
we're not using fear tactics and we're not standing up here
trying to scare people down the aisle or scare them into making
professions of faith. A man's a dishonest crook that'll
do that. And I used to think a lot of
these preachers were sincere but just sincerely wrong. I think
most of them are crooks. I don't believe a man would trick
a child into making that kind of commitment in order that he
might report another baptism unless he was a crook, Charlie.
I really believe he is. Don't even know who he is. Calling
a man a crook, don't even know. But his tactics reveal his heart. That's just the way it is. His
tactics reveal his wicked heart. And so I caution you as your
pastor, and I'll take full responsibility for it. You say, that's Catholicism,
not letting children go to church where they want to go. No, it's
wisdom. It's not Catholicism. It's wisdom.
And you can be sure of one thing. You can come. You can bring your
friends. You can bring your children here. You can trust them to these
Sunday school teachers and to this preacher. And we will not
use any kind of methods or means or tactics to get them to make
any kind of profession. I'll tell you one thing. I'll
tell them who God is. I won't back up on that. He's
sovereign, almighty, immutable, infinite, eternal, God Almighty,
who'll do what he will with whom he will, when he will. And I'll
tell them what they are. They're rotten little rascals.
And they ought to be sent to hell, if there is a hell. They ought to be banished from
the presence of God. They don't deserve a thing. They're
born in sin, shaped in iniquity, conceived in iniquity, brought
forth speaking lies. I'll tell them the truth. I'm
not going to tell them they're good. They're not good. They're
rotten from inside out. Not outside in now, inside out.
They look good on the outside, but those little rascals are
evil on the inside. And they'll never be saved till
God in his mercy arrests them on their road to hell and brings
them to Christ. They may be 10 years old or they
may be 50 years old, but they'll never be saved till they're conquered
by God. They'll never be saved till they
bow to Christ. They'll never be saved till Christ
is enthroned as their Lord and Redeemer. He's nobody's Savior
if he's not his Lord. That's just so. If you want your
children to hear that, and you want them to hear the powerful,
convicting, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and it's
God who saves, and he saves for his glory, and he saves on purpose,
and he saves eternally, and I'll leave it to them. When they want
to come and say to me, preacher, the Lord's done a work of grace.
Praise the Lord. There's joy in heaven in the
presence of the angels over one sinner who comes to what? A profession
of faith? No, sir. Repentance. Repentance. There's joy in heaven. Lord,
hear my voice. All right, notice the third thing.
Here's the question that I want to get to this evening. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? If thou,
O Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, who, O Lord, shall stand? Now notice, it's not a human
witness that David's called upon to mark sin. It's the Lord. If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark
iniquity. You know, if you were to bring
my fellow man up here, I think I could say, if you'd bring Brother
Jay, Cecil, Ed, Charlie, and Bob, Cecil, some of these fellows
that have known me a long time, and ask them, what kind of fellow
is he? I think the majority of them, and I think if you call
me to testify of you, would say, well, he's a pretty nice fellow.
That's right. He's agreeable, and he's a good
friend, and he's a pretty nice fellow. So Dave is not saying
if our fellow man should mark the NICFA to who would stand.
If it's left to our fellow man, a lot of us would stand pretty
tall. That's right. I'll just be honest with you.
If it's left to me, some of you at Joe Wilson, you'd stand pretty
tall, pretty tall. And if it's left up to your wife,
some wives, I want to qualify that. If left up to your husband,
you brought them up here. And said, what's he like? Well,
if I had it to do over again, I'd marry him again. Nice fellow. Bring the policeman in. Got no
record. Bring all human witnesses in. Most of your children would
speak quite highly of you. But you know, that's not what
he says, no human witness. He says, Joe, he said, if thou,
Lord, If thou Lord, even ourselves, turn, I'll show you something,
turn to Luke 16. If you were, if you know, if
you were to be asked by somebody to fill out a character reference
on yourself, I expect you'd fit this verse right here, Luke 16,
15. Luke 16, 15, he said unto them, you are they which justify
yourselves before me. That's exactly right. You are
they which justify. But, now here's the thing, if
thou, Lord, but God knoweth your hearts. But God knows your hearts. And that which is highly esteemed
among men, the fact that we are basically honest, basically truthful,
basically moral, that which is highly esteemed among men is
an abomination to God. Now you think about that. So
this is the very thing right here in Luke 16, 15 that David's
saying over here in Psalm 133, Lord, if you should mark iniquity. This is something I've never
been able to understand, how any man can claim perfection. I know this is being done. I
know that there are actually denominations of religious people
who talk about being without sin. In fact, I've talked to
people who profess to be without sin, to be perfect. My friends,
knowing that God looks on the heart, knowing that God measures
the thoughts, knowing that God Almighty sees every imagination,
that God considers our motives, knowing all that, the very last
thing on earth that I can claim is perfection in God's sight.
That's the last. I can claim, I believe, sincerity
to a degree. I hope to a great degree. I can
claim earnestness. I can claim great and deep concern,
but brethren, one thing that honestly this preacher makes
no profession or claim to is perfection. We may stand fairly straight
before our fellow man, but he said, oh Lord, if you mark iniquity,
who shall stand? Now that's where we are. If God
should mark... But now watch this, what he's
saying. It's a special kind of iniquity. Let me show you. Here's
something I learned about this. I picked it up. I think it's
quite good. A special form of guilt. If thou, Lord... Now you understand who we're
talking about and in whose sight we're talking about standing.
If thou, Lord, who look upon the heart, who knows our thoughts,
our imagination, Our motives, the attitude. God sees the deepest
recesses of our souls and hearts. If you mark iniquity, iniquity? What is iniquity? He doesn't
say, Lord, if you mark those open, overt transgressions. He
doesn't say, Lord, if you mark those open, gross, vile, and
awful sins. But the word is iniquity. And
you know what? The word Spurgeon said this is
the word right here, Joe. Inequity. I-N dash E-Q-U-I-T-I-E-S. Inequities. What is an inequity? It's anything that's not perfect
and right in God's sight, whatever's not in full accordance with the
whole character of God. In other words, I may observe
one commandment and forget another. That's inequity. See what I'm
saying? I may love my family and love
my friends and love my church and love my God, but I don't
love my enemies. That's inequity. You see, that's
not balance. That's not right. I may perform
my devotions and forget my duties. That's inequity. I may do my duties and forget
my devotions. That's inequity. That's not right. It's not equal, you say, to God's
holiness and perfection. I'm kind to the lovely and I
ignore the weak. That's inequity. This is what
David's talking about here. This is what the Apostle Paul
is mourning over in Romans 7. The things I would do, I do them
not. The things I would not do, I
do. This is inequity. Consistency? We're not consistent. No life is without inconsistency. No life is without inequities. And this is what David is saying
here. If thou, Lord, You know, you see a man's deed,
God sees his motive. You see what he does, God sees
why he did it. You see, that's where it all
is. That's where the whole issue is. You see what a person does,
and you judge it either good or evil, God sees why he did
it and judges it either good or evil. That's right. If thou, O Lord, shouldest mark
inconsistency, if thou shouldest mark inequity, If thou shouldest
mark that which falls just a little short of thy glory, who's going
to stand? Now watch this. He said, who
shall stand? What are we talking about? Standing. Standing where?
Well, it's not in the pulpit. It's not even in the prayer room.
We're talking about who shall stand before a thrice holy God. And I'll tell you, as I wrote
this and as I read it again a moment ago, I really shutters went up
and down my spine. Standing in the perfect, holy
presence of God Almighty. Standing before the perfect judgment
throne of God Almighty. Standing before the perfect righteousness. If I had to right now, enter
into the awesome, holy presence of God Almighty, Without a mediator,
I shudder at the thought. Do you, Jim? I shudder at the
thought. Could you stand? David said,
if thou, O Lord, shouldest consider, mark, inconsistency, inequity,
who would stand? And the man that asked this is
the man who is a man after God's own heart. The man who asked
this was king of Israel. The man who asked this was a
type of Christ. The man who asked this had stood
in many holy places before. The man who asked this was a
man whom God personally chose and anointed to be his leader,
and of whose throne, he said, it is forever. And yet this man
says, oh God, if you were to mark my inequities and my inconsistency,
I couldn't stand. I couldn't stand. When God puts
us in his scales, we shall not stand. And I added this, even
those who have some confidence that they're clothed in the righteousness
of Christ are not always anxious to appear in the awesome presence
of God Almighty. Are you? Are you anxious to stand in God's
presence? Well, there's an answer here.
And if we stopped right there, we just wouldn't have any hope.
We'd just be, of all men, most miserable. Out of the depths
of my affliction, my guilt, my infirmity, my inability, oh,
God, I cry, not expecting to be heard for my eloquence or
the number of my words or my orthodoxy. Oh, Lord, hear my
supplications. And I know this. Lord, if you
should mark inequity, inconsistency, I couldn't stand, not in your
presence, not in your awesome, holy presence. I'd be consumed
like the chaff before the wind, or like the dry leaf before the
flame, or like the small, brittle house before the flood. I'd be
swept away." But, he adds, there is forgiveness with thee. I'm
glad of that, aren't you? I'm so glad that God forgives
sin. There's forgiveness with it.
There is forgiveness. How did the psalmist arrive at
this conclusion that there's forgiveness with God? If I ask
you tonight, you say, do you believe that? You say, yes, I
do. I do believe that. I believe there's forgiveness
with God. How did you arrive at that conclusion? And what
makes you think there's forgiveness with God? I'll tell you, I'll
give you five or six reasons why I believe the psalmist said
this and why I believe that God forgives sin. Number one, the
psalmist knew something of the character of God. He said over
there in the Psalms, blessed is the man to whom God will not
charge inequity. Happy is the man to whom God
will not reckon sin. He knew the character of God.
He knew that God delights in mercy. He knew that God is love. He knew that the Lord our God
is just and holy and righteous, but the Lord our God is merciful,
gracious, and love. Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and where the skies of parchment made, and every stalk on earth
a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain that ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. He just goes on forgiving. He just goes on showing mercy. He just goes on delighting in
mercy. He's plenteous in redemption. He's plenteous in redemption.
See down in verse 7? Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there's mercy. There's mercy with the Lord.
There's no mercy in the law. There's no mercy with me. There's
no mercy in religion. But with God, there's mercy and
plenteous, plenteous redemption. Just plenty. It'll meet your
needs. It'll meet your need. Now you
don't know how sinful I am. You don't know how good God is.
Now you don't know what I've done. Do you know what He did?
He died on a cross for your sin. That's sufficient. But you don't
know how wicked I am. You don't know how gracious He
is. I tell you, you bring your sins and sorrows and inequities,
he's got sufficient righteousness to make you whole. He's tackled
bigger sinners than you ever hoped to be, and he's conquered
them, and he's made them whole. Why does David believe there's
forgiveness with God, the character of God? Secondly, the promises
of God. Scripture says, come now, let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet. And somebody, in red like crimson,
somebody said, that's double-dyed. That's dyed clear into the grain.
That's dyed so it'll never wash out. You can't bleach it out.
There's no Clorox embedded that'll take the stain away. Come unto
me, though your sins be as scarlet, though they be red like crimson,
though they be double-dyed, though they be on the outside and the
inside clear to the grain, I can make them as white as snow. That's
what he said. That's his own word. If any man
sins, we have an advocate. If we confess our sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us
from what? From every sin but unbelief.
From all unrighteousness. And I'll say this without fear
of contradiction. There's not a believer in here
tonight that's not also got a whole lot of unbelief. Is that right?
You might be right, that's right. Anything that's not perfect faith
is unbelief. We've got a lot of it, but he's
able to cleanse us of all sin, even my unbelief, even my doubts
and fears. He's able to wash it away, put
it away in his blood. It's not how strong your faith
is, it's in whom you have faith. And then I think thirdly, David
said, there's forgiveness with thee, because he knew the character
of God, he knew the promises of God, and he knew the gospel
of Christ. Yes, David knew the gospel of
Christ. He wrote of Christ. The whole, if you sometimes take
the Psalms, I did this while I was up Cleveland in the hospice,
start with Psalm 1. And just go through there, and
every reference to Christ, you underscore it or mark it. It's
fascinating. Most of the Psalms are Messianic
Psalms. Did you know? You knew that.
Some of you knew. I see you nodding. You've done it before. But it's
amazing how many times David refers to Christ in the Psalms.
He quotes the very words of Christ and the very character of Christ.
He says things in there that have no reference to him in as
far as the fulfillment's concerned at all. They refer to Christ.
David knew Christ. Why did our Lord come to earth?
To save sinners like you and me. Why did our Lord suffer and
die on the tree? To save sinners like you and
me. Who does the Holy Spirit awaken and call? Those who are
dead. For whom did Christ die? The ungodly. I'm not inviting
good men to Christ, I'm inviting sinners to Christ. I don't have
any message for a good man because he doesn't need Christ. I want
you to listen to this hymn they used to sing. I wish we had some
hymns like this. Some of our hymns are real good,
but listen to this. Here is pardon for transgressions
past. It matters not how black they're
cast. Are you with me? Here is pardon
for transgressions past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And oh my soul with wonder view. For sins to come, there's pardon
too. You believe that? I know it. I don't just believe it. I know
it. I know it. I don't have to put
up any kind of front or phony veneer of religion. I can tell
God exactly what I am. And there's pardon for all my
sins, because he knows already. He knows already. The gospel
of Christ is a gospel of free grace for sinners. God's forgiveness
is free. Now you can buy a lot of things,
but you can't buy God's grace. It's as free as the air that
you breathe. It's free to all who want it. That's right. It is, Jim. The gospel of Christ
is nobody out here trying to pay for the air they breathe.
That's God's air. And we all just, I need it. Did you ever
try to do without air? It's the most panicky feeling
in the world. But I'll tell you, when you have
that need, you just breathe it in, and God's grace is just as
free. And not only free, but it's full.
God doesn't half save or half forgive, like we do. Somebody says, I'll forgive you,
but I'll never forget it. The Lord says, I'll remember
their sins no more. I love that. I'll remember their
sins no more." It's a full forgiveness. It's a total forgiveness. There's
a total forgiveness, a full forgiveness. Not only that, but it's immediate.
If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive.
It's immediate. The moment a man believes, his
sins are put away. And not only that, you say there's
more? There's more. It's forever. The gifts and calling of God
are without change. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. God's forgiveness
is free, it's full, it's immediate, and it's forever. The Lord's
forgiveness. Now you can go where you want
to and hear this God-priest, he loves you today and he sends
you to hell tomorrow. He saves you today and you fall
from grace tomorrow. God saves you and leaves it up
to you to hold out, all that foolishness, you go work, you
go to what suits your needs. But this old empty sinner needs
the filling of God's grace every day. And this old powerless sinner
needs God's strength every day. And this old sinful sinner, sinning
sinful sinner, needs God's mercy every day. And this old weak
center needs God to hold me every day. So I'm going to go where
the grace is free, and where it's full, and where it's sufficient,
and where it's never taken back. That's right. That's what I need
now. Now you may can make it on your own, but I can't. I just,
without God's grace, it was grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils,
and snares, I have already come. It's by God's grace that I've
come thus far, and it's his grace that'll take me home. That's
what I need. That's what I'm preaching to
people that need that. If I can find me somebody that needs it,
I'm going to give it to them. I'm going to offer it to them.
I'm going to say, here, take it. Help yourself. Come on. The table's spread for hungry
folks. Don't bring anything now. Empty your pockets before you
come in. Come on. Come on. Without price, without
money. In my hands no price I bring,
simply the cross of Christ I cling. Come to the water if you're thirsty,
but don't bring your cistern water with you and pollute the
stream. If you're hungry, come to the
table. It's all free. You get the glory. Here's the
conclusion, I quote, that thou mayest be feared. that thou mayest
be feared, that thou mayest be held in awe and reverence, loved
and worshipped. That's at me. It's not just,
you know, he says, Lord, if you should mark inequity, who would
stand? But Lord, there's forgiveness
with you that you might keep us shaken like a leaf. No, that
word's not the same fear. that is used in a slavish fear,
that you might be held in awe. Aren't you awed by God's matchless
love? Aren't you just awed by God's
grace to the guilty? I am. That you may be worshipped,
held in awe, loved, and held in reverence. I wait for the Lord. What he
gives is worth waiting for. And when you agree with that,
it's worth waiting for. What he gives is worth waiting
for. I wait for him. My soul doth wait. Watch this.
And in his word do I hope. That's where the, that's where,
here's the confidence. God said it. You can believe it. You mean
preaching, let me ask you what you're saying. You mean telling
me that as vile and dirty and wicked as I have been and am,
that God is free and full and complete and immediate forgiveness
for all my sins past, present, and future through Christ the
Lord by faith. That's exactly what I'm saying.
Where did you get that kind of doctrine out of this book right
here? Right here is where I got it. And that's what David said,
I'll wait for the Lord. I'm not going to turn to the
strength of man, or to the religion of man, or to the confidence
of man, or to the recipes of man, or to the professions of
man. I'm going to wait for God. What
he has worth waiting on. Well, preacher, if I could believe
that, that'd be sufficient. Well, you wait on the Lord.