Excuse me. Open your Bibles with
me if you will to 2 Peter chapter 2. 2 Peter chapter 2. Read the first 14 verses. Well, I really actually need
to start reading in verse 20 of chapter 1. Verse 20 in chapter 1. Knowing this first,
that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. That means that nobody is going
to come up with something new. Nobody's going to come up with
something new. For the prophecy came, not in old time by the
will of man, but holy men of God spake, as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost. But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of. And through covishness shall
they with feigned words, hypocritical words, false words, phony words,
make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth
not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the
angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment,
and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly. And turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making
them an ensemble unto those that after should live ungodly. and
deliver just lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling
among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from
day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to
deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto
the day to be punished, day of judgment to be punished. But
chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,
and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed,
they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels,
which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation
against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts,
made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that
they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption,
and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness as they that
counted pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they are in blemishes,
sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast
with you, having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from
sin, beguiling unstable souls In heart they have exercised
with covetous practice. Cursed children. It's an awful
indictment, ain't it? Awful indictment. And that hymn
went perfect with what I'm going to say today. The Lord knows
me, knows my thoughts, and that's what I'm going to preach on here
in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. Chapter 2 and verse 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under
the day of judgment to be punished. And the title of my message this
morning is The Lord Knows. The Lord Knows. You know, hypocrites,
often to justify themselves and to ease their conscience, they
often say, well, the Lord knows my heart. The Lord knows my heart. But the true believer, God's
people, trembles at the knowledge of God. There's no place we can
go, just like in that hill. No place we can go where he's
not. No thought we can think that he doesn't know. No emotion
that we go through that he doesn't see. Psalm 94 and 11 says, the
Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity. David said, oh Lord, thou knowest
me altogether. You know my down setting. You
know when to get up. You know when to go in. You know
when to go out. You know my thoughts are far
off. Far off. Job said, I know that
thou canst do everything. Is there any thought that's withholding
from you? That's what Job said. And I know
that not only do we who know that God really knows us, I mean
really, really knows us, nothing's hid from him. And I'll tell you
something else. There's none of us want to hide
anything from him. We may hide things from one another,
but we don't want nothing hid from God. We know that. And as he trembles at the knowledge
of God, his faith is strengthened in his heart, comforted by knowing
and believing that God knows all. God knows all. His faith and the knowledge of
God comforts him in so many things. You take doctrines in the Bible.
There's doctrines in the Bible we don't understand. We really
don't. You know, like God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. God's absolutely sovereign. He
does his will in the armies of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth and no man can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? And yet at the same time, at
the same time, he owes every man responsible and commands
all men ever were to repent. And then there's the prophecies,
prophecies, very puzzling. But I know this way, I know this,
that it's going to come out his way. I don't know. I read, I started reading something
yesterday about things that was going to happen. And then I thought,
well, and then I got into it where they started talking about
this is prophecy fulfilled. This is going to be this prophecy
fulfilled. I quit reading right then and there. I know that whatever happens,
it's going to come out God's way. I read the back of the book
and all the Lord's people is going to go to be with him and
everybody else is going to go somewhere else. Ain't that right? And oh my, how about his promises? Oh my, the promises of God. How
many promises has he made to us? And we find them so amazing. And then there's the providence
of God, oh my, that comforts our heart and yet strengthens
our faith. Providence sometimes to be frown on us, it seems to
frown on us, it seems to be against us. And yet you know God's providence
is like a wheel, it runs real, real slow. Sometimes it has us
on the bottom, it feels like it's gonna crush us. But the
bottom always comes to the top. And when it comes to the top,
we come to the top with it. And oh my, what about temptations,
great temptations? The Lord says you knoweth how
to deliver the godly out of temptation. There's no temptation taking
you such as it has any man. And the Lord will with the temptation
make a way to escape. And how many people have escaped?
And I know this, when we're fixing to leave this world and go into
the next, We'll be like old Simon Peter. Lord, lovest thou me? Simon, lovest thou me? Yea, Lord. Simon, lovest thou me? Yea, Lord. Simon Peter, lovest
thou me? Lord, thou knowest. You know. You know. And I'm more interested
in how God loves me than how much I love Him. I'm more trusted
in His love for me than I am for my love for Him. That's for
certain. And, beloved, it's the saints' faith in the knowledge
of God that brings such comfort and assurance. The Lord knows
them that are His. The foundation of God stands
assured having this seal. The Lord knows them that are
His. And I know this. that this world
right now is under the government of our Lord Jesus Christ God
Almighty and the government in the next world is in the hands
of an all-knowing God and he can't be fooled he never makes
a mistake and nothing catches him unaware or takes him by surprise
and I tell you what And that makes us so thankful, makes me
thankful. I read about a little child one time that was washed up on
the shore. People's out walking and they
found a baby, just a young child, not a baby, a young child laying
on the beach. They had no idea where it come
from, didn't know its age, didn't know when it was born, didn't
know its mother, didn't know its father. And they buried that
child. And you know what they put on
the tombstone? God knows. God knows. God knows. And look here, let's look in
this verse here, 2 Peter 2, 9. It says, The Lord knows how to
deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust under
the day of punishment. And the first point is this,
the Lord knows men's true character. He knows men's true character.
He knows the godly. Look down there in verse five. He knows the godly. And he spared
not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher
of righteousness. He know that godly. He know just
exactly where he was. Everybody else was wicked around
him, but he knowed Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And what about Lot? And verse
7 says, Deliver just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked. He knows the godly. He knows
when they're tried, when no one else knows. He knows when a believer's
being tried, when no one else knows. And if they knew, they
wouldn't care. God knows the godly. And He knows
just exactly where they're at. And He knows what Noah was going
through. He knows what Lot was going through.
He knows what you're going through. And He knows what I'm going through.
And when tempted, when they don't even know themselves, God knows
the godly. And when the godly is tempted,
they don't even know themselves. And don't know what they'll do
in their situation. It's like Peter. Peter was swore
up and down and he's going to go be with the Lord, he's going
to fight for the Lord, going to die with the Lord. And our
Lord Jesus looked at him and said, Simon, Simon, Satan sought
to sift this wheat. I know that. And I prayed for
you. I know how to, I know how to,
I know the godly, I know where they're at and I know what they're
going through. He said, I prayed for you. that your faith would
not fail. I prayed for you that your faith
would not fail. And oh, not only does he know
the godly, but he knows the unjust. Look what it says, he to reserve
the unjust. He knows the godly and he knows
the unjust. They may make loud professions
of piety. Look back up there in verse one.
But there were false prophets also among the people. Always
been false prophets. Always, even in Moses' day, there
were false prophets. And even as there shall be false
teachers that come in among you, and they'll privately, they won't
publicly, they'll sneak it in, they'll come in with it sneakily
and privately, bring in damnable heresies. Oh, they'll bring in
lots of things, even denying the Lord that bought them. What
does that mean? That means that they preached
that Jesus died for everybody. They take the power out of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They deny the blood of Christ
because they say the blood of Christ is shed for every man
and that the choice is left up to you, that the blood of Christ
won't save you unless you let it, unless you mix your faith
and your repentance with it. That's how they deny the Lord
that bought them. I can never deny the blood of
Christ and His power and efficacy. Because if Christ shed His blood
for any man, that man's sins are gone. He may not know it
yet, but they're gone. Is that not right? And look what
else they go on to say. And many, lots and lots of people
are going to abolish their deadly ways. And oh, listen, by reason
of whom even the way of truth, when somebody tells the truth,
they say, that fellow's got a cult. That fellow, you know, he's preaching
election, that they're the only people that's saved. They're
the only people that knows anything about God. They're the only people
that knows the gospel. They preach that Jesus Christ
actually don't have any power in His blood unless He makes
it effectual. And oh, listen, and oh, they'll
use covetous words. Oh, they'll brag on you. They'll
talk about how good you are, and how generous you are, and
how gracious you are, how kind you are, and make great, no,
they'll talk about how good you are, how faithful you are, and
how what, they just couldn't make it without you, and the
church couldn't. And they'll use all these phony words, and
all you are to them is merchandise, somebody they can make some money
off. And when they can make more money and with more people, they'll
leave you and go someplace else. And oh, that's what he says,
they shall make loud professions of piety, that the Lord knows
them. And look what he said, he even
know the angels. If the angels are spared, not
the angels in verse four, if he spared them not. And the old
world and the people in Sodom, he knows the unjust. they may
be honored for their so-called profession and their gifts and
their sacrifice and their money but the Lord makes no error by
being partial or makes no error and being severe he spared not
the old world he spared not the angels and he is not going to
be partial in his judgment in me now let's go back and look
at it again the Lord knows the godly the Lord's knowledge of
the godly He knows the godly. He knows the people that know
God, the people that fear God, that trust God and love God.
He knows every single one of them. Look with me in Malachi.
You know where Malachi is at, last book in the Old Testament.
Look in Malachi chapter 3. Oh, he knows, you know, he knows
the godly. I mean, he has a great knowledge
of everyone, but oh, the Lord's knowledge of the godly. He knows
a people. He knows those that know Him
and love Him and fear Him and trust Him and cast all their
cares upon Him because He cares for them. But look what it says
here in Malachi 3.16. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another. What did they talk about? about
Christ, His love, grace, His mercy, His faithfulness. And all listened. And the Lord
listened. And He heard everything that
they said. And He brought a book of remembrance
for them that feared the Lord and thought upon His name. Oh,
the Lord knoweth the knowledge of the godly. And look what else
it says here. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptation. He knoweth how to let them suffer.
And He knoweth how to deliver them. He knoweth just exactly
how much to let them go through. He knoweth how far to let them
go. He knoweth how deep to let them go. And He knoweth just
exactly when to deliver them. Let me show you what I'm talking
about. Look in Job chapter 42. Job 42. You know the story of
Job. Everybody knows about Job and
everything that Job went through with his miserable comforters
and all their accusations made about him and oh my, his world,
his world, he lost his health, he lost his wealth, he lost his
children. He lost all of his, his wife
even turned against him. And look what he says here. God
knows exactly how to deliver the godly out of temptation.
And look what it says in verse 10 of chapter 42. And the Lord
turned again the captivity of Job. That means he turned again
how he was captive by all these trials and all these burdens
and all of these afflictions. And when he prayed for his sins,
And also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. How
long? You read all of Job and read
everything he go through. And God took him and said, that's
as far as you can go. And he says, now I'm going to
deliver you. And I'm going to deliver you
out of that trial. I'm going to deliver you out
of them temptations. And I'm going to give you more than you
ever had before. And I tell you, His knowledge,
our Lord's knowledge of the godly answers the situation much more
than they would or could. You know, Job asked this question.
He said, there's no place I can go. He said, when I look to the
right hand, I can't find Him. When I look to the left hand,
I can't find Him. When I look behind me, I can't find the Lord. He's hid Himself from me. But
you know what He says the next thing? He says after, He said,
I've looked for God and I can't find Him. I've looked this way,
that way, and another way, and He's hid Himself from me. But
you know what He said? The Lord knoweth the way that
I take. and all when he hath tried me,
I shall come forth as gold." That's what he said. He said,
I can't find God, but he said he knows the way that I'm going
to take. I don't know which way, but he knows. He knows. And oh, beloved, he couldn't
find God anywhere. God just hid himself from him.
But he said, the Lord knows. I don't know. I don't know. I
can't even find Him right now, but He knows me. And He knows
the way that I'm going to go. And I tell you, God's knowledge
of the godly is absolutely perfect. He knows their case perfectly.
Before it ever comes, while it's going on, and after temptation. And He knows all of their sorrows.
He knows every tear. He said He keeps their tears
in a bottle. He says He knows His people.
He knows every sorrow, every grief, every tear, every heartache. He knows every temptation. There's
nothing, absolutely nothing that God does not know about us. He knows when it's going to come
because He sends it. He knows how long it's going
to last because He's got an end to it. He knows exactly what's
necessary. And when to bring you out of
it? How many times has that happened? And that's why, beloved, the
longer we live for Christ, and the longer we live and understand
this thing, how many times has God put us in the fire? And it's
like when Nebuchadnezzar said to those Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, He says, you know, said, now, listen, I've got this
image made. And when you hear the trumpet
sound, if you don't bow down to that image that I've made,
I'm going to put you in that fiery furnace. And he says, now
who's going to deliver you? And he said, Oh, listen, we're
not careful to answer you. Okay. He says, I know this. They said, everyone of them says,
I know this, that the Lord is able to deliver us and will deliver
us. And they blowed that music and
them boys just stood straight up, they didn't bow. Take them,
put them in the furnace. And old Nebuchadnezzar walked
over there and said, I saw put three in there, there's four
in there now, you know why? Because our Lord Jesus Christ,
He said He knows And whatever you go through, He done been
there. And oh, and they brought Him out. And He said, we know
now that thy God's the only God. And the scripture says that He
let them loose. That's the first thing Christ
does is He sets His people free. And oh, and bless His name. Then
they come out there and it says, not a hair was singed. There
was no smell of smoke on their clothes. They come out just like
they were then. Covered in the blood of Christ.
Then, oh, listen, beloved. It's like David, you know, when
he's going to go fight Goliath. Saul said, here, put on my armor.
David tried to put on Saul's, said, I've never tried this.
I've never proved this. He said, I know what I'll do.
And he got five stones. And he only needed one. And he
used what God gave him. And God, he slew that giant.
And beloved, he put it off. And I tell you what, you know
our Lord, He fed Elijah with ravens. And He's going to take
care of me and you. If He cares about sparrows and
numbers the hairs of our head, do you think He don't know how
to deliver us out of temptations? Huh? And he says, and he says
that in every way there must be an escape. He delivers the
godly out of temptation. He brought the angels. He said,
told the angels, he brought Lot out of Sodom. He saved Noah by
an ark while he destroyed the rest of the world. And you know,
there's three arks in the scripture. Three arks in the scripture.
There's Noah's ark, that's the first ark. There's Moses's Ark
when they made an Ark and put him in that Ark and pushed him
out in the water in the Nile. And then there's the Ark of the
Covenant. And there's only three things that can destroy us in
this world. And God made a way of escape
through for us in an Ark. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Noah's
Ark saves from the justice and wrath of God. When God's judgment
fell, no one was saved and the judgment fell on the ark. When
Moses was put in that ark, it was because Satan sought to slay
him and kill him and destroy him because he is the firstborn
child, male child. And our Lord Jesus Christ defeated
Satan, took his power away from him, took his strength away,
defeated him lock, stock and barrel. And then there's the Ark of the
Covenant. In that Ark, the Law of God was kept. And in that
Ark, there was a mercy seat on top of it. And you take that
law out of the ark, and it's nothing but condemnation and
death. But you put it in the ark, and put that gold mercy
seat on top of it, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our mercy seat,
and the law is fulfilled in Him. And law can't touch us, can't
touch us. And I'll tell you something,
beloved, in the Lord's knowledge of the godly, He knows the most
profitable, profitable way of delivering us. and He'll do it
in a way which will be most glorified to Himself. He'll wait just like
this, He'll let the Red Sea. Pharaoh's army's behind Him,
the Red Sea's in front of Him. Now, how are we going to get
out of this mess? Moses, Moses, they're going to
kill us all! He said, Stand still! and see the salvation of the
Lord. He stretched forth that rod, the sea went back, and away
they went. He knows how just exactly when
to save the godly out of temptation. And I tell you what, this knowledge,
this knowledge that God knows us, the Lord knows the godly. He calls them to trust Him, trust
in Him, and never, ever sin in order
to escape from any temptation He sends our way. When Paul had
been in prison for quite a while, and Agrippa came to hear what
he had to say, he said, ìBring him out here. Iíve heard a lot
about him. Bring him out. I want to question him. I want
to see him.î And when Agrippa said, ìNow, Paul, you can answer
for yourself.î You know what Paul said? First thing he said,
now they just brought him out of prison. He's standing in front
of the king. You know what the first words out of his mouth
was? He didn't say, I'm here unjust. He didn't say, I'm being
mistreated. He didn't say, I'm in jail for
no fault of my own. You know what he said? First
words out of his mouth was, I thank myself happy. Oh my, he's standing there a
prisoner of wrong. And the first words out of his
mouth in front of a king is, I thank myself most blessed.
I'm happy. Oh my. And that's why, you know,
and here's what I'm talking about. Don't sin to escape. When Simon
Peter was standing before that fire and he denied the Lord Jesus
Christ, he sinned in order to escape them folks, finding out
that he was a disciple of Christ. He said, your speech betrays
you. You're one of them. I don't know that man. I don't
know that man. He sinned to escape those folks
and what they'd do for him. God help us never to sin, to
escape from any trouble. Huh? Now it's not like Potiphar,
Joseph, Potiphar's wife. You know, remember she said,
oh lay with me, lay with me. And Joseph said, oh no, you're
my master. And he ran to keep from sinning.
And Peter said, in order to escape, because he's afraid of me, the
Lord's knowledge of the gospel, he knows exactly when to deliver
him out of temptation. Now look else what it says here.
Again in this verse nine, the Lord knows how to deliver the
godly. He's this knowledge of the godly.
Oh my. And the Lord knows the unjust. He knows the godly. Wonderful
knowledge. Thank God he knows me. Thank
God he knows you. Bless his name. I can sit and
say, Lord, you've seen me. You've seen what I just did.
You've seen what I just thought. Lord, forgive me of that thought.
Oh, God, I've seen, you've seen that thought go through my mind.
You've seen that, that, what went through my heart, those
feelings in my heart. You see them. Now, not only does he know that
his knowledge of the godly, but the Lord knows the unjust. Look
what he says. And he knows the unjust and reserve
them under the day of punishment, judgment to the punishment. And
I tell you, He knows they're unjust in every way. They're
not legally just by keeping the law. No man is legally just. By the deeds of the law shall
no man be justified. They're not legally just. I don't
care how reformed they get, how sanctified they may think they
get, how much law they think they're keeping and how many
good works they think they're doing. The Lord says they're
unjust. And they're not just through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Being justified by faith through
our Lord Jesus Christ. They're not just because they
have faith in Christ. Because they don't believe in
Christ. They're not trusting Christ. So they're not just.
And they're certainly not just in their lives. They're not just
in the lives that they live before the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting
Him and Him alone. And the Lord knows them. And
He knows how to deal with them from day to day to day. Look
at our own world. If God did not, you know, it's
just bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news. Everywhere you
go. I'm telling you something. You imagine what this world would
be like with all the unjust people in this world if God didn't restrain
them. You think it's bad now, you let
God take His hand off of everybody. let him take his hand off of
ever government let him take his hand off of ever man and
let him do what he would do if he wasn't just it'd be hell on
earth what he would be and the lord knows how to restrain and
restrain the godly i mean the the unjust look how he dealt
with the pharisees and with the sadducees and the erodians Oh,
he called them vipers. He called them serpents. He called
them snakes. Called them lawmongers. Told
them that they could not possibly escape the damnation of hell.
Called them hypocrites. And look what it says here. He
reserves them. He reserves them. And that word
reserve means to restrain. That means to restrain. He holds
them under restraint. Ain't you glad he restrains people? He restrains government? Do you
imagine what the government would do if God didn't restrain them? Huh? It's bad enough, what? And
he knows how to reserve them. He knows how to delay their punishment. This is one thing I've told folks
time and time. You've heard me say it at least
a hundred times, maybe more. This is what gives me great assurance
in this world, no matter what's going on, that nobody, absolutely
nobody's getting by with nothing. No matter what a man's doing,
no matter what position he's in, no matter how up he goes,
or how low he goes, or if he's in between, the thing is, there
ain't nobody getting by with nothing. He knows how to delay
their punishment. We wonder, Lord, how long, how
long are you going to let this go on? Oh, he knows just exactly
when to let the sword fall. And at the same time, he knows
how to reserve the unjust and all their ungodliness, and at
the same time, keep law and order in his own world. Oh, he's past his ways are past
finding out oh Listen reserve under judgment to the day under
the judgment day. Oh listen. He's got a day set
And it's tall called punishment Let me ask you a couple of questions
Do you think your children have you ever punished your children
when they've done something? Have you ever punished If you ever laid stripes to them,
if you ever made them, tell them not to do something, they do
it and then you punish them for it. Have you ever punished your
children? And if you go out here and break the law, don't you
think the law ought to give judgment, pass judgment upon men and punish
them for the things that they do? Then why in the world would anybody
think that God, who is absolutely just, and knows the God and He
knows the unjust, why in the world would anybody think it
strange that God would not punish men for their crimes against
Him and their sins against Him? Huh? And oh, and He knows how to punish
them now. And you know how He punishes
them now? With having no peace and being full of fears. It's
like Cain, when God punished Cain. You know what Cain said? He said, my punishment is greater
than I can bear. And you look what it says in
the margin, he says, my punishment is not greater than what I deserve. My punishment is just exactly
what I deserve, and I'm not able to bear it, even though it's
from God. and he went out from the presence of the Lord and
I tell you what he lived his whole life from the presence
of the Lord and all listen he knows how he knows how to punish
them now with no peace and no fears look what it said here
in second Peter chapter 2 in verse 20 he knows how to punish
them now with no peace and with fears It says in verse 24, If after
they escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they turn around and
are entangled therein and overcome. God talks about just having a
knowledge, not knowing Christ, just having a knowledge of Him.
And entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with
them than the beginning. For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they
had known it, to have known the way that God justifies a man
and saves a man, and not to know that, and then after they had
known it, and learned it, and heard it, then in turn from the
holy commandment delivered unto them. It had been better for
them not to have been born. Oh my, the Lord knows. And he
knows how and where, just when to bring him down and when their
cup of sin is full. Let me show you something, Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes, go to Isaiah and
Ecclesiastes right to the left of Isaiah. Ecclesiastes. Go to Ecclesiastes with me. And
it's, you got Song of Solomon, then you got Ecclesiastes. You
got Ecclesiastes. And look in Ecclesiastes chapter
eight. He knows how to bring them down
when their cup of sin is full. It's like Pharaoh. Pharaoh, he
went on and sinned and sinned and sinned and wouldn't let the
children of Israel go. Nine times he said, I've sinned.
Nine times he said, I've sinned. And then God finally drowned
him in the Red Sea. I heard this story one time,
I don't know how true it is, but I've heard it and I said
that somebody who said it said it was true. There was a little
country church, down in the country. That preacher would get up, they'd
go to services on Sunday, and there was a farmer. He had big
fields all the way around that building. And every Sunday, the
only time he'd ever do any work in that field was on Sunday,
when those folks were in there trying to work. He'd crank up
that tractor and he'd go out there and he'd plant and then
he'd go and he'd cultivate and then he'd go back and just all
the time, only time he had worked was on Sunday. Oh boy, and he had a bumper crop
that year. He told the preacher, he said,
Preacher, why do you think about this? He said, I've raised more
corn than I've ever raised. Bumper crop. And I worked every
Sunday, the only time I'd worked that field was on Sunday. You
know what that preacher told him? He said, God don't pay in
corn, and he don't settle up in October. God don't pay up in corn, and
he don't pay up, and he don't settle his accounts in October
with corn. I'll tell you something else. I live in a, I have a beautiful
place. We have a beautiful place. Beautiful yard, beautiful trees,
beautiful flowers. But what's that compared to the
glory that's gonna be revealed in us someday? I sat there and
thought of that this morning. I looked at all that beautiful
front yard. All them trees in bloom. Three
pots of flowers there on the porch. And I said, Lord, what
in the world is all this compared to the glory I'm gonna have with
you someday? What is this? And oh, look what
he says here. He knows just exactly when to
bring a man down. Look what he said in Ecclesiastes
chapter 8 and verse 11. Because sentence against an evil
word is not executed speedily, that God don't punish just like
that. Like somebody said, if the Lord's... If the Lord's God... If He's really there, let Him
prove it by this... Somebody say, boy, I wouldn't
be around you for nothing. Lightning will strike here. Because
sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore
the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Because God don't punish me right away. Well, listen, I tell you,
he don't know what's going on. Though a sinner do evil a hundred
times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall
be well with them that fear God, which fear before him. But it
shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his
days, which are as a shadow, because he feareth not God."
Oh, the God Lake is going to go big. Oh, He knows how to deliver
them. And I tell you what, what did
He do to the unjust? He said He reserves them unto
the day of punishment. Look here at what He said in
verse 4, 2 Peter 2, that He spared not the angels their sin, cast
them down. Overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
He spared not Sodom and Gomorrah and overthrew it to be an example.
He said to be an example to them that should after live ungodly. And he knows how to deal with
men in judgment and when and where to cut them off. Cut them off. I know a man that died last Monday. He was a man, 55 years old. Got breast cancer, 2010. A man. Traveled the world, done a lot
of things, a lot of people knew him. And I'm telling you, you
never heard such eulogies in your life over this man. Cancer mastitis into his bones
and into his brain. He was just over here, he was
in February and March. And they eulogized him and eulogized
him and eulogized him. Eulogized, oh, he's the finest
fellow that ever was. I'd like to be like him, like
to be like him. Not one time did they say, did
he know God? Not one time did they say, did
he trust Christ? Nobody talked about him, said
anything about God, said anything about Christ. Not the people
that eulogizes him. Not the people, not he's gonna
have a private, gonna have a private ceremony, gonna cremate him. And then have a memorial service. Telling you God's got a way to
cut every one of us off And all this and the mysteries
of eternal death Are safe in God's hands And let me let me quickly get
me give you two things in Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 12 get
two things and I'll be done Acts chapter 12 I want you to see
this. Talk about how to deliver the
godly and then how to preserve the unjust and how to deal with
the unjust. Both of them are right here in
this chapter. He knows how to deliver the godly.
And look what it says in verse 1. Now about that time Herod
the king stretched forth his hands to vex, to trouble certain
of the church. He killed James because he said
he saw that the Jews rejoiced in that and enjoyed it and had
great pleasure in it. Then he took Peter also, and
this was during the days of the Passover Feast. He apprehended
him and he put him in prison. Had four accordions of soldiers,
four men to keep him watching. And all Peter was kept in prison,
verse 5, and they prayed and prayed and prayed for him. Boy,
it's set one day that Herod's going to bring him forth the
next morning. And while Peter was sleeping, verse 6, between
two soldiers, bound with two chains, bound to each prisoner.
Watch what happens. And there's somebody before the
door, standing outside the door, watching. Watch what happens.
And the angel of the Lord came upon him. A light turned on in
the prison. Wherever Christ comes, light's
got to come on. And he smote Peter on the side.
Wake up! Wake up, Peter! And raised him
up, to rise up quickly. And the chains fell off his head. God, the angel said, girdle on
yourself, bind on your sandals, and he did. And he said, cast
your garment about you and follow me. And he went out and followed
him and wished not that it was true which was done by the angel.
Verse 10, And when they were past the first second ward, they
came unto the iron gate, which opened to them of its own accord.
The gate just opened up. They went out, went on through
the city, and an angel departed from them. And when Peter was come to himself,
verse 11, he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath
sent his angel, listen to this, and hath delivered me. out of
the hand of Herod and from the expectation of the people of
the Jews. He delivered them. Now look what
happens down in verse 19. Here's the ungodly, here's the
unjust. And when Herod had sought for
him, sought for Simon Peter and found him not, he examined the
keepers and commanded that they should be put to death. Oh my
goodness. Kill these men because they let
Simon Peter go. And Herod, in verse 20, was highly
displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with
one accord to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamber,
and their friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished
by the king's country. And up on a set day, they said
a day, Herod said, now listen, you all get in front of me now,
and said on a set day, Herod put on his great royal apparel,
sat upon his throne, and made a great speech before everybody. And the people gave a shout.
They just shouted and said it's the voice of a God and not a
man. Now watch what happens. And immediately the angel of
the Lord smote him. Why? Because he gave not God
the glory. And worms grabbed a hold of him,
inside of him. Eaten of worms. Worms got inside
him. God put worms in his gut. God
put worms in his belly. And he died. Didn't die that
day, but he died an awful miserable death. The Lord knows the godly. Just exactly when to deliver
him. He knows the unjust. He's got them reserved. The Lord
knows. The Lord knows. Our Father, For Christ's sake,
for Christ's sake, bless this word. Oh, Holy Spirit, take the
word and use it. You're the only one that can
make it fruitful, make it effectual, and bless it, and bring forth
fruit from it. You're the only one who can.
And we trust that you will. For your glory. For your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen.