Divine Deliverance
Psalm 40:1- 3
Pastor Greg Mc Donald
There are many things in our churches today, but there is one thing that we are sadly lacking. That is the old time testimony that not only was life changing to the person giving it, but also to the people around him or her.
I’m talking the kind of testimony where a man would stand up and tell what the Lord has done for him and every eye would be upon him and every ear would be listening.
If we could get a sincere Christian to come to the pulpit every Sunday morning, having a different person each week, to tell there conversion experience, their testimony would probably have more effect than any sermon a Pastor could preach.
The sincere words that come from the heart and out of the mouth can have a dramatic affect on the people we speak to.
Let me share a story with you about a man by the name of John Wesley. John Wesley was a well known preacher in London in the 1700’s. One night as he rode across a place called Hounslow Heath, singing a favorite hymn of his, when all of a sudden he was startled by a fierce voice shouting,"Halt," while a firm hand seized his horse bridle. Then a man demanded him, "Your money or your life."
So Mr Wesley obediently emptied his pockets of a few coins and then invited the robber to examine his saddle bags which were filled with books. Disappointed at the result of his holdup, the robber started turning away when the evangelist cried, "STOP!" I have something more to give you.
Then the robber, wondering at this strange call, turned back. Then Mr Wesley, bending down toward him, said in a very soft voice,"My friend, you may live to regret this sort of a life in which you are living. If you ever do, I want you to remember this,"The blood of Jesus Christ, will cleanse us from all." At that point the robber hurried silently away, and John Wesley rode along, praying in his heart that the word spoken might be fixed in the robbers conscience.
Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service with the people with the people streaming from the large church, many lingered around to se the aged old preacher, John Wesley.
When a stranger stepped out of the crowd, begging to speak with Mr.Wesley. As the stranger came closer to Mr Wesley he was surprised to see that it was the robber of Hounslow Heath, who now was a well-to-do tradesman in the city, but better yet, he was now a child of God! The words spoken to him that night long ago had been
used of God in his conversion.
The man looked at Mr Wesley and said to him, Mr Wesley, "To you dear sir, I owe it all." But Wesley said to him softly, "Nay, nay, my friend, not to me, but to the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin."
It was the testimony and kindness to this man by John Wesley, that helped to make a difference in his life. In the Psalms we find a man who really loved to give his testimony. This man is David. Many times David said, "Listen and let me tell you what the lord has done for me." ( READ PSALMS 40:2 Here in the fortieth Psalm David says, "I was in a pit, sinking down into the miry clay. But the Lord came lifted me up. He put my feet on a solid rock and put a new song in my mouth".
I want you this morning to try to picture this in your minds, just think for a moment what it would be like for this man deep down in a pit. It was dark down there, but there was just enough light that you could see that he was sinking, he was helpless and hopeless. There is no way to get him out of there. Sooner or later if he is not rescued he is going to die.
Then all of a sudden you can see a man walking over to the pit, he stops and looks down and see’s the man is in trouble. Then he reaches down and takes hold of the mans hand and lifts him up out of the pit and he sets him on the solid ground. The man that was in the pit was so happy that he couldn’t thank the man who rescued him enough.
This morning there is another way we can look at this situation, this individual in the pit is a lost soul, sinking down into hell. The strong man who pulled him out is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is now saved and his feet are standing on the Rock of Ages and he is singing praise to his Savior for saving him.
Once this man was rescued from the pit then what? What are some of the things that begin to happen now that he has been saved from this pit of darkness that was leading to hell?
1. Healing
The first thing was a healing, This morning I’m not talking of a physical healing, although I believe in divine healings. But this morning I am speaking about a spiritual healing.
All through the Bible sin is looked at as a disease. It is a disease that cuts down every man and carries him toward hell. Every human being is afflicted with this disease. God’s word says that we have "All sinned and come short of the Glory of God".
There is not a human being upon the earth that has not sinned. So since all of us are afflicted with this disease, all of us need healing. Well guess what? There is a cure for this illness, and Jesus is the Great Physician. The day that He went to Calvary, he provided the remedy for us. When we come to Him, we are healed of our spiritual sickness.
There is a story of a salesman who was addicted to alcohol. One day he was riding with some of his friends in a car. Then one of the men in the car took out a bottle of whiskey and started to pass it around, and the man told them "No, I’m not drinking any more". They laughed at him and they thought he was joking.
But when they saw that he was not joking they asked him,"Are you sick?" The man looked at them and said, "No I’m not sick". And he went on to tell them that a few days ago he was in the local pawn shop. He went on to tell them that while he was in there a young man came in, shivering from the cold and went up to the counter and handed the owner a small package and said, "Will you give me a couple dollars for these.
The owner opened the package and found a pair of baby shoes. The man looked at him and said,"You are certainly not going to sell these shoes are you? Your baby needs them more then you need the money for whiskey. And the man replied , "No, my baby doesn’t need them anymore. She passed away last night. So please just give me the money.
The salesman in the car told his friends in the car with him, "When I looked at that poor fellow and realized the hopelessness of his life and the sadness of his home, I saw what I might be in ten or fifteen years. So at that point I went and found a quiet place and cried Oh, God, help me and save me for Jesus Sake! And He saved me and gave me victory. I will not be drinking with you anymore.
Listen to me church, this may not be your sin, but without Christ you are going to go down with this dreaded disease and only the blood of Jesus Christ can save you.
Here lets look at it this way, Suppose that you were sick and the doctor came and said, "In your present condition you won’t live 48 Hrs. But I have this wonderful medicine here. I have had a thousand patients with this same disease and I gave them this medicine and everyone is healthy today.
Now, you can lie there and die or you can take this medicine and get well. What would you do? Surely you would grab the medicine out of his hand and say give me that right now.
Well this morning Jesus is the remedy for sin. Millions of people who where sinking down to hell have come to Him for healing and He has never lost a patient. Jesus can heal your spiritual sickness.
2. Help
Once you have been lifted up out of this pit you receive healing, the next thing you will receive is help. Now that you are a new born in Christ you need help. It’s just like a new born baby, when a baby is born it is not left alone, that baby needs help and nourishment.
It’s a wonderful life to be born again, but the battle is not over it has just begun. You are going to need help, and the Holy Spirit says I’m gonna give it to you, I will stand by your side. Jesus says I will never leave you nor forsake you. What would we do if we didn’t have Christ to help us?
Just think for a moment, what would you do in your time of sorrow if you could not here him say,"Let not your heart be troubled", or in your time of need if you could not hear the words,"My God shall supply my every need."How about when you are lonely and you could not hear the words,"The Lord is my Shepard".
There is an old song titled,"No one ever cared for me like Jesus". And how true that is . From the moment that you trust Him as your Lord and Savior until the day comes He takes you to Glory, He will look after you.
I can remember every time I had to go in for surgery for my back I would be so nervous until I would close my eyes and talk to God. I would take that moment to turn every thing over to Him. Then peace would come all over me and I was not afraid.
Let ask you this morning where else in this world are you going to find help like this? There is no help for you if you don’t Know Jesus. This is a tough old world we live in, there is troubles know matter were we look, and I wouldn’t dare think of facing this world alone.
3. Hope
The third thing this man receive when lifted out of the pit of miry clay is hope. Let me ask you some questions, an automobile won’t run without gas, will it? Your watch won’t run without winding it up or a battery will it? And flowers will not grow without sunshine and water will they? Neither can a man go on without hope.
If a man looks toward tomorrow and has no hope, he might as well be dead. Where can you find hope for tomorrow? Can you find it in money? No, you can lose it very easily. Can you find hope in your friends? No, there’s a chance they might let you down. The only hope you can have is found in Jesus Christ.
Suppose someone come up to you today and asked you,"What is your hope"?What would you say to them? Would you say to them yah it’s true I’m not a Christian, but I never harmed anybody, I try to treat everyone kindly, or would you say, "My hope is built on nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ.
If a person was laying in a hospital in pain for many days and the doctor comes into there room and says to them, "I’ve done all I could do for your pain, there is nothing more I can do for your pain anymore, you would become a miserable person. You would lose all hope in recovery.
Several years ago a teacher assigned to visit children in a large city hospital received a routine call requesting that she visit a particular child. She took the boy’s name and room number and was told by the teacher on the other end of the line,"We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now. I’d be grateful if you could help him with his homework so he doesn’t fall behind the others."
It wasn’t until the visiting teacher got out side the boy’s room that she realized it was located in the hospital’s burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in great pain. She felt that she couldn’t just turn and walk out, so she awkwardly stammered,"I’m the hospital teacher, and your teacher sent me to help you with your nouns and adverbs."
The next morning a nurse on the burn unit asked her,"What did you do to that boy?" Before the teacher could finish a profusion of apologies, the nurse interrupted her: "You don’t understand. We’ve been very worried about that young man, but ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back and he’s responding to treatment...It’s as though he’s decided to live."
The boy later explained that he had completely given up hope until he saw that
teacher. It all changed when he came to a simple realization. With joyful tears he expressed it this way:"They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?"
Closing
So here is what Christ offers you today. He offers you healing, which means forgiveness of all sin. He offers you help along life’s pathway. He offers you hope for all the days to come.
