Brother Gary Sunday Evening 1/11/15

Brother Gary Sunday Evening 1/11/15

Psa 4:4  Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Awe – in wonder, in amazement, giving God greatest admiration.

Commune: this is something that we have a hard time doing in our world as well as being still.  We wake to activated phones, activated internet, and activated other things.

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.  How different it would be at Plains School if all the faculty stood in awe, in wonder, in amazement, giving God greatest admiration.  What a thought to bring to anyone that we can get stopped long enough.

Psa 119:161  SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.

God didn’t fail Moses, He didn’t fail Noah, and He didn’t fail Ephesus.  The Word of God is awesome.  I have read commentaries and sometimes I get lost in the reading.  I have heard Brother McConahae preach and at the time sat in awe at his preaching.  You have had similar experiences. 

We are not all gifted to write like Brother Naylor and we wouldn’t choose to go through the school of affliction as he did for 8 years to be able to.

Ps 39 was written when David was under conviction.  Lasciviousness is a description of how the world was in the days of the Apostle Paul and is a description of how our day is and is becoming. 

There is not anyone that I don’t want to see get saved.  One thing that is required for the new creature experience is deep conviction.  There is a price that we have to pay for us to be burdened for those we love. 

David was the king; he went into sin by choice.  People are sinners by choice. 

Psa 39:10  Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

We have a God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit that have a terrific hand of conviction.  Every one of us that is saved tonight have felt that hand of conviction.  Everyone that has stayed saved has felt the same hand over and over again. 

David knew great conviction.  Conviction moved upon him in such a way that he said:

Psa 39:1  To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

Conviction is a wonderful thing.  It helps us as saints in praying conviction for those we love.  We must be willing to have them under conviction; the word that translated into conviction is the word ‘stroke’.

Conviction is a wonderful thing.  The bible teaches us clearly that out of the same mouth does not come sweet and bitter water.  When you feel something that would pour out bitterness from you heart, you feel convicted by this scripture, “What is going on in my heart?”

My mother could preach on the tongue.  “I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.” 

Conviction brought him dumb with silence.  Conviction brings us to silence.  The weighty hand of conviction!

Psa 39:2  I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

Conviction is a wonderful thing.  You and I know that the depth of godly sorrow works repentance not to be repented of.  I pray and I ask you to pray that the hand of conviction rest upon me the rest of my life.  I really mean it.

Psa 39:3  My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

Psa 39:4  LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

Conviction brings us to the thought, “Eternity is just one step away.”  “Lord make me to know my end, the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how frail I am.” 

Dependency on God:  Blessed assurance.  I am placing my life, I am placing my wife, I am placing all in your hands.  It is good to be serious. 

Psa 39:5  Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

The length of our hand breadth is the length of our days.  We don’t know how many years that represents.  God knows. 

Conviction:  we know that David accomplished a lot after this.  I know that he would not have accomplished anything valuable if he hadn’t repented.  The story of David would have been a very sad story if that were the case.

It is a sad thing that men and women don’t know that “this moment in time needs to be used for God.”

Psa 39:6  Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

Psa 39:7  And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

Psa 39:8  Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.

If I have the opportunity and someone tells me that they want to get saved, I want to help them count the cost.  Have you counted the cost?  There will be some real convicting times.

Make me not the reproach of the foolish:  sin brings such reproach.  The reproach that David had!  God often forgives but it is still recorded in the minds of the individuals, the sin.

Psa 39:9  I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

Psa 39:10  Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

Psa 39:11  When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

Isn’t it amazing what conviction does?  How it humbles the heart!  How the pride and the beauty is gone and is nothing.  Individuals all painted up with what they think makes them beautiful, when the hand of conviction begins to work, the tears begin to wash through and they are not so concerned what they look like because their heart becomes convicted.

Psa 39:12  Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

Psa 39:13  O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

He was crying, “Allow me to repent.”  Ps 51:7 says purge me with thy hyssop.

From what I could learn in studying, David’s cry was, “God purge me with that same cleansing, that same sin offering, that would heal the leper.  That offering was bringing two clean birds.  The one would be killed, the other would be dipped in the blood of the first, there would be cedar, there would be scarlet.  Is 1:18 though my sins be as scarlet…

David was hungering for that experience that his sins were as scarlet, “Purge me with the hyssop.” 

Hyssop was an herb like marjoram that has cleansing characteristics within it.  That live bird was dipped in the blood and then was shaken over the individual with leprosy and he was healed.  The only way people will be healed of the addiction of sin is to first feel the hand of conviction and the crying out to God. 

You and I in the gospel day have had the marvelous sin offering of Jesus Christ.

Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

You and I understand the hand of conviction.  God’s hand is not a hand of conviction to those that are doing their very best to serve Him. 

There is something about perfect conviction.  All God has to do is show up.  Our attitude is, “God do what you want.  I don’t have a personal conviction that ‘It needs to be my way.’”  If things have to be our way then our heart hasn’t broken under the hand of conviction.

His reward is with him:  My heart is in awe as to what God has for those that will submit to Him.  He has never failed.  He has a reward. 

Let’s remember what God has done for us last year.  It gives us great hope for what He has for us in 2015.  I have every hope to say, “God your way and your will.  You just move your hand and I will follow.”

There are those in this audience that would say, “God I want to follow your way but I don’t know what it is.”  God knows how to show us just the right way.

Isa 40:11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

I would say that all of us really appreciate someone serving us with such good serving.  We all love it when the table is so well spread. 

When God leads us in our studying and reading our devotions, sometimes it goes on and on where it is, sometimes it goes back further in the Old Testament and sometimes it goes on into the New Testament.  He knows just what we need.

His hand:  He shall gather the lambs with His arm.  Children, enjoy the season of being young and innocent.  Anyone that wants to give you the knowledge of that which is unholy, say, “I’m going to wait for that.”  Or, “There are some things that I never want to know.” 

He will carry them.  It is wonderful to have Him bring someone close to His heart.  What a privilege!  Jesus takes his children in His arms and the bible said that He puts His hands on them.  Oh church, feel those hands! 

There is nothing like when people that you never thought cared anything about you reach out their hand and pat you.  Someone did this to Karen and said, “You bring such a good atmosphere to this place.” 

There is something so much better.  The hand of God.  I have felt His hand of chastising, and of scourging.  I had no problem with God, or dad when he spanked us. 

It wasn’t too rough, but when my mom got me, oh she was rough.  Look at these ears.  My mom had a burden and it was for one young guy my age that was talking cars in church.

That hand of God is a tender hand.  Do you know how to be tender?  You say, “I am kind of rough shod.”  A lot of people were until God got a hold of them.  Their elbows they now keep to themselves, and their tongue that they were not able to bridle until God got a hold of them, they can control. 

For everyone that is burdened tonight.  Don’t mess up your burden.  Let Him lead you.  Let God gently lead those with young.