Nature interposed His precious
blood. Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be. Let Thy goodness, like a feather,
bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
steal it, steal it for Thy courtship. Thank you. Alright, let's go
back now to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew 16. Matthew 16. I want you to read
verse 26 again with me. Verse 26 of Matthew 16. The Lord Jesus Christ says, For what
is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose
his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? What is the soul that we are
in danger of losing? What is the soul? The soul of
man. God created man, he breathed,
he became a living Well, the soul is you. It's you. This body is not you. This body is the building in
which your soul lives. You are a soul, a living soul. Soul is that which animates this
body. The proof of that, that man does
indeed have a soul, is when he sleeps, when this body is inactive. Yet the brain often goes right
on, does it not? You dream dreams and so forth. Death, when death happens, the
body ceases to function. Yet you, go somewhere. The real you, your soul, goes
somewhere. And this book says it goes back
to God who made it. The soul. Man was just a clay,
like a jar, a pot, until God breathed this life into him. He became a living soul and it
animated that body. Beginning in verse 21 that we
read, the Lord is talking to his disciples about his own death,
about leaving this world. He talks about death. Verse 21
and 22, let's read it again. From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem
and suffer It must suffer many things of the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, die, leave the body, and be raised
again the third day. But Peter, when Peter heard this,
Peter took him, that is, I believe he laid hold, grabbed hold of
his arm and pulled him to the side and began to rebuke him.
Not in the sense that we would, you know, rebuke our children,
but, no, no, no, no, no, this can't happen. Lord, he said,
be it far from thee. Don't, don't, this can't be.
No, no, Lord, don't let, this can't happen. Peter didn't want to think of
the Lord being tortured and killed, leaving, didn't he? He didn't
want to think about the Lord dying. Oh no, don't leave. We don't want you to die. That's
what he's doing. That's what he's saying. Peter
is thinking like nearly everyone thinks, right? When we think about someone dying,
Peter is like us, we all know, don't let this happen. This can't
be. Right? We just don't naturally
like to think about dying, naturally. Don't like to think about dying,
do we? And when the subject is brought
up, now let's talk about something
else. Let's avoid that. I was listening to a, I come
through the TV, you know, like you do, and this Boku religious
programs on now, aren't they? I can block out channels on my
TV now, and I'm starting to block them all out, where I don't have
to look at them when I'm filming through. Because it gets my attention,
you know. And there was an old black man
on there, very old. And as they like to do, they
were just wild and carrying on. He was preaching. I turned the sound up. I listened.
I watched TV without the sound on. I turned the sound up, and
he said, I don't want to die. He said, I'm 84 years old. He
said, but I'm not ready to die. I don't want to die. He said,
I want to live. And he went on and on like that,
and people just went wild, you know. I thought, what an old fool. I said, that's not one of God's
preachers, is it? I'll tell you what God's preacher
said. I'm ready to depart. If you read last week's, what
did I do with it? Last week's bulletin, there it
is. I wrote, put an article in there
by my pastor who is 78, no, yeah, 77 years old. He's not an old fool. He's a
wise man. And he quoted Paul, who was perhaps
in his sixties when he wrote this, who said, The time of my
departure is at hand. The time of my departure. Departure,
he says, is when we depart this world of, and what is it? Where are we leaving? A world
of sin and suffering and sorrow. Who wouldn't want to lead that? We depart this world of sin to
dwell eternally with our Lord and with our friends who have
departed, have already departed. To go back with them. And all
of us, the believers, will be that. He says, the time of my
departure is at hand. The time. It's appointed. The death, everyone's dead, everyone's
dead. There is no such thing as an
accident. We need to get that term out of our language. He had an accident. There are
no accidents with the Lord. Everything has been purposed
by God. Known unto God, Acts 15, 18, are all his works from
the beginning. He declares from the beginning that things are
not yet done. Say, my counsel shall stand. The time has been
settled. It says that in Job, man's days
are determined by the Lord. His bounds are set, he cannot
pass. The time has been settled by my Heavenly Father since before
the world began. My time. The time of my departure
is at hand. That means it's close. I keep telling some of you, and
you know it, I hope you know it, that you're You're getting
old. Some of you are past 70. Now,
the scripture only promises us 3 score and 10, does it not?
Some of you are 70 and over. I mean, that's it. What is there
left but a little bit of just a little excess, but not much,
is it? Not much. Is it hand? And it's
the greatest event, and those of you who were in the Bible
study heard about this glorious manifestation of the sons of
God, the liberty, the glorious liberty of the sons of God. If
you missed that, I'm sorry for you. It's at hand. The greatest event
of my entire existence, because to be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. And advanced age, Brother Henry,
seventy-some, weakness of body, the absence of so many people
who were once here, cry out loud and clear to us, the time of
our departure is at hand. We're just like cattle, you know
that? That are taken for the Master's
use, one by one. We need to be a lot wiser than
cattle, don't we? And look up. Because the scripture
says, lift up your heads, your redemption draweth nigh. Your redemption is really near. Now, as I put things in that
language, does that make you fear? Do you dread that? It's not a thing to be dreaded.
God's people, there will not be one moment's fear or trepidation
or anxiousness there. When it is actually time, you'll
be given grace. He will give you, it'll be like
falling asleep. He giveth his beloved sleep. Nobody in here dreads going to
sleep. Matter of fact, you look forward to it. You make excuses
to do it. He put off other things to do
it. Sleep. Well, Peter, the Lord was talking
about his departure. And Peter took him by the arm
to the side and said, don't, Lord, no, no, no, let's not talk
about that. And the Lord rebuked him then.
The Lord sternly, shockingly said to Peter, look at what he
said, verse 23. The Lord said to Peter, get thee
behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me,
for thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men." He called Peter Satan. Why? Because Satan was the one who
was influencing Peter at that time. Satan was the one that
was the attitude in which Peter had, that's the attitude he had,
was the attitude that Satan longs to put in the hearts and minds
of sons of Adam, saying to them, oh no, no, no, no, this is life,
this is living, stay here, this is what it's all about, not dying,
oh no, no, no, no, don't think about that. The things of men. Our Lord said, you savor the
things of men. What are the things of men? Well,
I was going to have you turn, but go over to Matthew 6. It won't take you long to turn
there. Matthew 6. John, in 1 John 2, talked about
the lust of the flesh, the things of the world, all these things.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. and the pride of
life are not of God. The kingdom of heaven is not
meat and drink. But we lowly creatures, we grovel down here thinking
that this is really living, meat and drink. That's really all
that animals think about, is it not? That's it. That's what they live
for. Their existence. Our Lord said, is not the life,
look at verse 20, Matthew 6 verse 20. Where is it? Verse 25. He says, take no thought for
your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor
yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more
than meat, eating? True life, more than eating and
the body, than raiment. Look over at verse 31. He says,
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? What shall
we drink? What shall we wear? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. Think about it. That's all you
see advertised today, is it not? Everything in this world, the
things of man, the things that mankind is taken up with. are the things that lowly animals
are taken up with. Eating, drinking, these things. Clothes. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Is not life
more than that? The things of God. Our Lord says,
Thou savest not the things that be of God, but the things that
be of man. The things that be of God Now,
listen to me. Unknowingly, most people, most
human beings want the things, to some degree they want the
things that only God can give. Happiness. Everybody wants happiness. They seek it in various ways,
try to be happy. And they seek it in all the wrong
places and things. You can never find happiness
in a thing. Even in people, that won't bring
it either. One person will, but only one. But the things of God, people
want joy. They don't want it to end. There are things at times that
you Enjoy things, don't you, and one another and things, and
you don't want it to end. Did you enjoy that last night,
John? Brother Gary was telling me this
morning, he was thinking about the marriage supper of the Lamb,
how when the Lord is going to present to us gifts and so forth, how that's going to be. Peace,
joy, we want joy, we don't want it to end. Happiness, love, everybody
looking for love. Aren't they? Everybody wants
to be loved. Well, listen, folk, you can't find that here. You can't find any of those things,
peace, joy, happiness, true love, anywhere here. It's not to be
found. In anyone or anything. No sir. Why? Why? Because everything dies. That's why. And whatever you
find that happiness in, you think you've found it. You've found
something that really makes you happy. And for a while it does,
but then it dies, and then you're more miserable than you were
happy. Is it not so? The loss of something
dear is worse than And more lasting than the joy you had when you
had the thing or the person. Everything does. There's no lasting
happiness, joy, peace. There's no peace. There's no
peace because we want things, and we want to hang on to things,
but there's no peace in that joy that we have in those things,
or even people, because we know we can't keep it. And it makes
us anxious. Let me keep it a little longer.
So is it. But there's no peace. No peace. Look at verse 26. In our text,
Matthew 16, verse 26, the Lord says, What is a man profited
if he shall gain the whole world? What profit is there? Gain the
whole world. What have you gained? The world's
riches. I advise you, I just strongly counsel you to read
the book of Ecclesiastes for yourself. Just read it slowly,
prayerfully, carefully. Start reading it. That's all
about this life. That book is all about this life,
about a man who experimented. A man named Solomon, the wisest
man to ever live, and the richest. God first gave him wisdom, which
was the one thing needful, and then God gave him everything
else to apply that wisdom to. He said, I applied my heart to
wisdom. to search out everything under the earth. And he did.
And that whole book is about him experimenting with things,
relationships, everything that man pursues and he thinks will
make him happy. Solomon tried it. He got it.
And he ended up, in the end, about everything and everyone.
It's in his vanity. It's of no lasting value. It
will not make you happy. Or for a short time. In the end,
it's harder than it's worse. What profit, our Lord says, what
profit is there to gain the whole world? What profit is there in
anything that does not last? You would think that we would
be smarter than to invest everything in something that's got rock
in it. Wouldn't you? Invest all our hopes and times
in things that we may lose tomorrow. You'd think you'd be smarter
than that, wouldn't you? Vanity. The things of God. Now, the things
of God. The things of God. Peace. Peace. And this is a peace which passeth
understanding. It's a peace It's only found
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the knowledge of your God and being
found in Him and the union with Him, a peace which passive understanding,
a peace which I can't stand here and describe it. It's a peace
which only those who have it can experience it, but can't
describe it in passive understanding. You know something about it when
you hear it. You know something about it, when you hear Christ
preach, some of you are starting to smile right now. The corners
of your mouth are turning up. And your hearts are beating a
little bit quicker because of that. When you hear the gospel,
and the fellowship of the saints around the gospel, singing of
those songs, the hearing of the gospel preached, the consideration
of these things that are higher, things that are nobler, gives
you peace. Great peace which no man can
take away. Peace that only those who are
found in Christ have. There is no peace for the wicked.
There is no peace for those that are not found in Christ. No peace.
They won't find it anywhere. They seek it in religion. They
seek it everywhere. Religion, wherever, they won't
find it. When you find, when Christ finds you and puts you
in Him by faith, There's peace. Always there's peace. Peace. So much so that by and large, for the most part,
you begin to lose your consuming desire for these things. Is that
right? And you're not so upset when
you do lose these things. Not so upset. A little bit. Not just absolutely, you know, torn all to pieces. Peace, which passeth understanding,
based on Christ, based on hope. True love. True love. You know, God is love. Scripture says that twice. God
is love. It doesn't mean He has love. He is love. In other words,
Tammy, that means if you're not in God, don't know God, God,
you don't dwell in Him, He and you, you have not love, real
love. Oh, I'm in love. I hear young
people, I'm in love. Right. My dad marries a lot of
young people, you know, a lot of people. He's married a lot
of people. He told me in private that quite often he stands there
with two before him and wants to say to them in those vows,
he wants to say, now how long is this really going to last?
You're making all these promises and vows and how much you love
each other to death, do your part and all that. Yeah, right.
How long is this really going to last? The divorce rate is
over 50 percent now. Why? Because there's no real love
outside of God. God is love. You understand? That means you won't find, if
you are a believer, if you're a child of God, you won't be
loved by someone other than a child of God. You won't find true love. You won't find a husband. who
really loves you as God loves you, as Christ loves you, unless
he knows God. And if you do find someone like
that, that loves God, that knows God, that has the love of God
shed abroad in his heart, oh, blessed are you. You better marry
him quick before someone else finds out. No, no, not too quick. I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I have to do it. But the fact
is, true marriages are indeed made in heaven. All of them. Those who truly know God's love
never faileth. Now, you get madder than a hornet
at that one you love, don't you, Sherry? You're getting mad or mad, you
know, put out, and I'm just leaving, but really, you know, that's
really not in your thought process, is it, Stephen? It's not there.
At times you get so mad. And really, they're the ones
that ought to have left you a long time ago. But really, to a believer,
when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts, both
of them, that's not an option, leaving. True love never fails. Never fail. Marriage is under
attack right now. That's being a useless thing.
Well, sure it is. To those that don't know God,
it's a useless thing. Why make promises you can't fulfill?
Sure it is. To those that don't know God,
Romans 8 says that they're not subject to the law of God. Neither
indeed can be. No. They're making all these
vows that they cannot and will not fulfill. But God's people
do. Yes, they do. How long have y'all
been married? Go ahead, how many? Don't ask him yet. How long have
you been married? Forty-eight years. Charles, Barbara,
fifty, how many? Don't ask Charles, ask Barbara.
Fifty-two years. True marriage lasts. Yes, it
does. And if it doesn't, something's
wrong with one of them or both of them. Yes, sir. Two people
divorce, and I'm not trying to make anybody feel guilty about
divorce, but it's just a fact. Two people who claim to be believers
separate. Something's wrong with one of
them or both of them. Because true love never fails.
God is love. You won't find it. Young people,
you won't find happiness outside of a man or a woman, a person
that you unite with. It loves Christ. Don't do it with you. Some of
you have been through that, down that road, and you realize it,
and you're agreeing with me. But some of you have been blessed
to find someone who does. And you say, it's so. You're dying to stand up here
and tell these young people, aren't you? Don't make my mistake. I'll tell it for you, okay, those
of you? I'll tell it to our young people
for you. Don't make that mistake. It's bad. It's bad. Everybody suffers miserably.
True love. God is love. Family. You won't find a real family
outside of God's family. Family. Friends. I had a lot
of friends, I thought, when I was young. And I realized By God's
grace, when God began to give me some understanding, I realized
they only had me as a friend for what they could get out of
me. My dad taught me hard work, Kelly,
from a boy, and I did. And I earned good money. Always
had a pocketful of money. Always had a pretty nice car.
Bought and paid for it myself. Worked on it. And my buddies
didn't. But I was their friend. I was their friend. What they
could get out of me. The things of God, oh my, true
happiness. There's none in this world of
sin. There's none. There's no lasting happiness.
It's only evil. This is an evil world. Yes it
is. And the evil in this world at any time can spoil your happiness.
Yes, it can. The things of God, holiness.
The closest we understand something about holiness is when we're
together like this, where sin does not beset us. Holiness, love, real love, joy,
peace, goodness. What it is, is the presence of
God. That's what the things of God
are, the presence of God. Outside of that, They are none
of these things. Outside of the presence of God,
that's what hell is. Separation from God. None of
these things. No mercy. No mercy. No mercy. We wouldn't know what it would
be like to have no mercy at the hands of anyone or anything.
No mercy. No peace. No joy. Hell. You know, our Lord spoke about
hell more than According to his purpose. He called it a place
where the worm dieth not. That's the way the Lord referred
to it. The worm dieth not. A worm is something when inside
of some animal or whatever it begins to gnaw at and eat away
things. And our Lord said it's a place
where the worm dieth not. Man has a worm, so to speak. He has a desire for this and
that and the other. And our Lord says hell is where
the worm dieth not, where it's constant, continual, ongoing,
without cessation, gnawing at a person with no hope of fulfillment,
no hope of, no outlet for that desire, like a drunk wanting
a drink and can't have it. that desire never being fulfilled,
no peace, no joy, no happiness, not one moment of that, not one
moment, but only anxiety. All of us have experienced anxiety,
depression, fear, and so forth, worms that gnaw at us. Our Lord
said it won't cease. Now that's an unpleasant thing
to think about, but our Lord spoke of it more than anybody. The things of man, now the things
of this world, I've got to hurry, the things of this world are
not sinful. Let me say that again, the things of this world are
not sinful. Our Lord one day turned to his
disciples and said, you look at me, listen to me. The Pharisees,
scribes, and Sadducees who looked like they were denying themselves to think, looked like
they were unworldly, they dressed the part, they lived without
this and that and the other. They really didn't. They were
the richest men on earth, religious. But our Lord turned to his disciples
and said, you listen to me, there's nothing entering into the mountain
that defiles a man. There's nothing sinful of itself. The Scriptures tell us, God's
people, that he giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Right? I thought about that last
night when you all were opening those gifts. I thought about
the Lord attending that wedding. The Lord sat in on one of those
wedding showers. He was sitting there in that
very thing. He was enjoying that. Yes, he
was. He was enjoying them enjoying
themselves. Now, what's wrong with that?
People showering somebody with gifts and enjoying it. Nothing. There's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with the legitimate things of this world
which God has given us. Home, family, friends, things. I like my car. I'm not talking
about me. You may say, Because my car's
very bad. Vinnie's car's not. And she lets
me drive it every now and then. But my car. Anyway, you say,
I like my car. There's nothing wrong with that. Is there? Now here's the problem. The scripture says in 1 Timothy
6, the love of money They that will be rich, it says. Those who, that's what they are
after. Let me read it for you. I want
to read it verse by verse for you. 1 Timothy 6. Good turn. 1 Timothy 6. It says this in
verse 9. They that will be rich. Well, verse 8. Verse 8, having
food and raiment let us therewith be content, but they that will
be rich, that is, that's what they are after, fall into temptation. That is, in order to get rich, you have to do whatever it takes. Right? Oh yeah. Especially in
this day. Right, Kelly? You're going to
sell a bad horse. A lot of bad horses. They fall into temptation and
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men." Drown them, just drown, just over the head. For the love of money, verse
10, is the root of all evil. That's a powerful statement.
The love of money is the root of all evil. All evil. My, my. Well, go back to our text now.
Let me wrap this thing up. Our Lord says in chapter 16,
verse 25, Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. To save
your life means this is the only life you're interested in, keeping. Whenever you save something,
it means you want to keep it. To save your life means you invest
everything you have, your life savings, in this life. You invest everything. Your work,
your thoughts, your energy, your effort, your pursuits, your time,
everything that you are, you invest in this life. You have
saved your life. This is all you've got. And if
you lose it, it doesn't matter how long you had it, does it?
What good did it do you? Some have been cut short. My best friend, I pulled his
dead body out of a room when he was fifteen years old. My
very best friend. I grew up with him from when
we started walking. My best friend, I carried his
dead body out of a room. Dead. Fifteen. Whole life gone. Well, my brother, 21. 21 years old. Prime of life, is it? My sister, 42. And on and on,
you could tell stories of those you know and love. Doesn't matter
how long you have it, does it? If you lose it, you've lost it. You've lost it. That's all you've
got. You have nothing when it's gone. That's all you've got.
We spend our life, Romans we said that, we saw that in Romans,
that if we pursue dead things, things that are dead and dying,
when they die, we'll die with them. Right? Our joy dies, our
peace dies, life is over. Many men, they lose their wives
and vice versa. Life is over for them. They don't
go on. Some of them don't go on. That
was their life, that person. You understand? Our Lord is the
one to save them. If you save your life, if this
is all it is, you're going to lose it. You're going to lose
it. But now, he said in verse 25, whosoever will save and lose
his life for my sake shall find it. Whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it. To lose one's life, to save one's
life, listen, to save one's life means to invest, to save it,
to want to keep it. To find one's life, our Lord
says, whoever findeth his life shall lose it. He said that in
Matthew 6. That means that what you want,
what you desire, that's what you found. You found what you
want. You found it. Find your life. That's what I
live for now. And a person spends their career, their life on a
career, moving up the ladder, being somebody. When it's over, your life's over. Let me give you a good illustration. The highest position that a human
being can attain in this life would be Arguably it would be
the President of the United States, would it not? That's why men
who are billionaires want the office. Power, the highest, most prestigious,
loftiest position that a human being can attain in this generation
is the President of the United States. He's the number one man
on earth, is he not? Well, there's a man right now.
down in Texas, who served two terms, eight years, Ronald Reagan. Do you remember him? He doesn't know his own name.
He doesn't know his wife. He doesn't know anybody. He has
no clue he was ever President of the United States. He doesn't
know what that is. And nobody on this planet cares. Do they? You rarely hear his
name mentioned. Nobody cares that he was President
of the United States. What good did it do him? That's
as high as you can get. It's over. His life is over. But that's not as high as you
can get. There's a much higher and loftier
position. Son of God. Son of God. And while on this earth you may
be on a donkey, but you'll sit among princes and never lose
that position, like old Mephibosheth. Huh? Where are you, John? Like
old Mephibosheth. He started low. He ended up high,
didn't he? He took the lowest seat. Ah,
but the Lord raised him, the King raised him to the loftiest.
So he says, when you lose your life for my sake, what does that
mean, lose your life for Christ's sake? Lose your life. Well, he
says it up here in verse 24. He said, if any man will come
after me, if it's me you're after, if it's Christ you're after,
if any man, listen to me, young, old, male, female, anyone, whosoever
will, any will come after me, by God's grace, if any will come
after me. Doesn't matter if your friends
don't, if you will, Doesn't matter if your husband won't, if you
will. Doesn't matter if your wife won't, if you will, come
after me. Doesn't matter if your parents
won't, if you will, if you're willing by God's power, this is what you need to do.
Verse 24, let him deny himself. Deny yourself. That's what really,
that's it in the summary. The life, everything about us,
ourselves. This is the most selfish generation
ever. Is it not? They make no bones
about it, make no apology for it. Do something for yourself.
Live for yourself. Women, don't live for that man.
Live for yourself. Huh? This is a self-degeneration. Self-pursuit. Deny self. You want a truly happy marriage?
Deny yourself. Save that person. You know, it
works both ways. It works both ways. It's the
way it is. You love that person selflessly,
they'll love you back. Unless you're a monster. Lost. Deny self. Self-pursuits. He
may come after me, Christ said, let him deny himself. What's
that mean? Deny all your free time. He comes
first. Christ comes first. Your personal
time, your personal interests, to seek Him. Anybody who's after
me, deny yourself. Find your wife. You put everything
to the back burner in favor of him. This is a marriage. Yes,
it is. We're the bride. He's the husband.
We serve him. Not our interests. He's our career. Christ did. Deny self. Like a
marriage. True marriage. requires total
self-denial. That's why most of them fail.
People are selfish. True discipleship requires total
self-denial. That's why many people leave.
They're more interested in their self, home, family, self. Our Lord said, deny yourself. Deny your self-worth. Religious
people They're not interested in this gospel, just merely religious
people, because this gospel says to everybody, you're not worth
a flip. This gospel says everything about you, about mankind, is
worthless. That God doesn't need you. Worthless. This Bible says there's
one worthy of everything, and it's Christ. And only one who
God chose that. we'll see that he's worthy of
everything. And I'm worthless. Deny self-worth. Christ alone
is worthy. It's deny self-righteousness.
Self-righteousness. People not willing to give up
their goodness, you know. Give up their medals that they've
earned for their holy living. But to come after Christ now
is to deny your self-righteousness. It's to confess that Christ alone
is my righteousness, my goodness, my holiness, that I don't have
any. Christ is all. And take up your cross, our Lord
said, verse 24. Deny thyself, take up your cross. What is the cross? Why was Jesus
Christ put on a cross? That's what this cross is. Why was Jesus Christ put on a
cross? Because he told the truth. about God, about man, about Himself. And they put Him on a cross.
They had killed Him. They persecuted Him, and they
finally killed Him. That was His cross. And the Lord
says, you come after Me, if you are one of My disciples, a true
disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, The world's going to hate you.
This is not a possibility, it's a certainty. If you acknowledge
the true God and the true Christ, the world will hate you. All
of religion will hate you. Why? For Christ's sake. But what do we care? Huh? If all the world doesn't like
my wife, they don't like her. What do I care if I love her? Huh? What do I care? Am I going
to change my mind? Well, our Lord said that. Come
after me, you're going to take up your cross. You can prepare
to be hated. Prepare to be hated. I can't understand how religion
can't see what the Lord plainly said. Matthew 10 and other places. You will be hated. It wasn't
just talking to the apostles. All religions and denominations
can get together and just be buddy-buddy and love each other.
But you take a man or a woman who just stands up and declares
who the true God is, and what man is truly, what this book
says, and who Christ really is. Not a failure, but an absolute
sovereign Savior and Lord. And everybody hates him. Hates
him. Well, you can prepare to be that
way. Take up your cross if you're
going to follow me, Christ said. If you're going to believe this,
if you're going to believe this gospel, be prepared for everybody
to hate you. It's not fun. It's not enjoyable,
but that's the way it is. Take up your cross. Our Lord
said, and follow me. Follow me. Follow me. Not the world's opinions. Well,
this is what everybody thinks. Who cares? What did Christ say? That's what I'm interested in.
Follow me. Follow me. If you love him, believe him,
that he is wisdom, you love, and you know, I ask you students, high school, I ask
my daughter all the time, she's enjoying her classes. I remember going through school,
and I didn't much enjoy it. I didn't. I liked recess, lunch. Didn't you, Steve? Oh yeah. You only enjoy something that
you're really interested in, don't you? You only enjoy something you're
really interested in. To be a student of Christ, to follow Him, to
be a student, disciple in the school of Christ, you've got
to enjoy it. And you'll forsake everything. It's the fact. I mean, you'll lay down everything.
You'll put everything aside because that's what you love. This is
who you love. You won't think of it as homework. That's the only way. Why do people
tire of the gospel? Well, they just don't love Christ.
That's all. They love the world more. Demas hath forsaken me.
Why? He loved this present world. Loved this present world. A closing
note. I want you to turn to Ruth. The
Gospel of Ruth. The Gospel of Ruth. I'm going
to quote this in closing. The Gospel of Ruth. Where is it? Oh, it's somewhere. That's the book of Judges, isn't
it? To follow Christ, the Lord says,
to deny yourself. Now, that doesn't mean you have
to do without everything. No, no. It doesn't mean that.
It doesn't mean you can't get married and have a house and
things like that. Oh, no. It doesn't mean that
at all. It's not to be taken up with
those things. The love of those things. pursuit, the all-consuming
pursuit of those things. And following Christ, to be a
disciple, let me say this, everyone, to be a disciple of Christ doesn't
mean from now on you're going to have to be miserable. Young
people, listen to me. Do I look like I'm miserable? I was when I sat out there one
time, when I sat out there and the preacher was telling me these
very things. I thought, I wish he'd quit.
It's time. I'm miserable. Now I don't want
to quit. I am going to quit. Honestly now, and these folks
will tell you that God's people really enjoy things more than
anybody. They know where they came from.
It's more enjoyable, more blessed when you realize that your Heavenly
Father has given you these things to enjoy, and it's not such a
It's not such a horrible loss when he decides to take it. Oh,
and the Lord gave it. That's why Job could say, well,
the Lord gave. Blessed be the Lord. The Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Naked I came, Job said, into
this world. I didn't have a thing when I
got here, but oh, the Lord sure did give me a lot of things.
Oh, blessed be. And naked I'm going out without
a thing. Now, blessed be the name of the
Lord. But I ain't going to stay naked. And I'm not going to be without
a thing some day forever. But simply put, a life of discipleship
for the believer is just what Ruth said to Naomi. In Ruth chapter 1, this is the
confession. Is this your confession, Sherry
Ruth? Becca Ruth? Margaret Ruth? Oh, you're all
named Ruth. Ruth said in verse 16, entreat
me not to leave thee. Oh, lead me not into temptation.
Deliver me from evil. Don't let me leave you. Please,
please, don't let me leave you. Don't let me turn aside to these
things. Don't let me, entreat me not. To leave you, read on. Or to return from following after
thee, to whom shall we go, Peter says. What are we going to go
after? What are we interested in? Dead things. Oh no, Lord,
don't let me leave you. Don't let me turn from following
after thee. For whither thou goest, I will
go. Wherever you are, whenever you are, that's where I want
to be. That's where I want to be. Where two or three will go.
Oh, that's where I want to be. That's where I'll go. Where you
abide, let me abide. I want to stay there. Let's build
three tabernacles." Someone said that after Wednesday night's
sermon. He said, let's just stay right here. Let's don't quit.
That's how Peter felt on that mountain. Where you lodge, that's
where I want to lodge. Abide. Your people, that's my
people. Right, Nancy? These people, that's
your people, God's people. My people should be my people.
And your God? Yes, this God, not the world's
God who isn't God, this God. The God of Christ, the true God,
is my God. They can have their God. He ain't
even God at all. Oh, but this is my God. Is it
yours, Ruth? Stanley Ruth? Oh, don't let me leave you. Don't
let me leave you. Will you die or 17? Will you
die? Will I die? I want to be crucified
with Christ, don't you? I want the world to be crucified
to me, don't you, John Davis? The world to be crucified to
me, and I to the world, don't you? Oh, yeah. Take up your crop. That's where I'll be buried.
Where you'll be buried, I'll be buried. If he isn't so buried,
the Lord do so to me, whatever, to me, and more also, and he
will. If aught but death part thee and me, what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul? There's an old legend. There
was an old blues guitarist named Robert Johnson. The legend has it that one day
the young man, he wanted to play the blues guitar so bad, he was
willing to do anything to play that guitar. And one day he was walking down
a dirt road in Mississippi, and he came to a crossroad, came
to the crossroads, and he met the devil. And the devil said, Robert Johnson,
how bad do you want to play the blues? How bad do you want to
learn to play that guitar? He said, I'll do anything. The
devil said, will you sell me your soul? He said, I'll do it. And so they
did. Struck a bargain with the devil.
And he began to learn the guitar and became very famous. He became
infamous. He was the most hell-raising,
womanizing, but could play the baddest guitar you've ever heard. That sounds like a fable now.
But that's true. And that's what many people do.
Come to a crossroads. Every time you hear the gospel,
it's a crossroad. It's a crossroad. And what will
a man give in exchange for his soul? Well, I want a career.
I'll do anything to get it. I want education. I want a family.
I want children. I want a husband. I want a wife.
I want this. I want that. I want the world. Here you go. And Robert Johnson
died a penniless, lonely beggar in a hotel room in his vomit. So we're weak. With nothing to
show for it. What a wasted life. And then,
the worm dieth not. And no doubt that he longs to
play the guitar now, Dave. He can't get a hold of one. The worm died not. That wasn't
aimed at you, you know that. I love to play the guitar myself.
It's aimed at all of us. What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? People do every day, don't they? They sure do. They're whizzing
by this morning. And treat me not to leave thee,
but from following that today. I'll go where you go. I'll buy
where you buy. Your people be my people. I will
die with you. But that's not all there is.
All right. I got to quit. I do. I quit. Scott would say that's the best
I can do. 393. Gabe, come up if
you would, please. 393. Please stand. Take my life and let me die Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love, at the impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be
swift and...