Well, good evening, everyone.
It's so good to see you all here this evening. If you would open
your Bibles with me to Acts chapter 10, Acts the 10th chapter. I'd like to begin reading in
verse 25. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius
met him and fell down to his feet and worshipped him. But
Peter took him up, saying, stand up, I myself also am a man. And as he talked with him, he
went in and found many that were come together. And he said unto
them, ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that
is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation. But
God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without
gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for. I asked, therefore,
for what intent have you sent for me? And Cornelius said, four
days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour
I prayed in my house. And behold, a man stood before
me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard,
and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Send, therefore,
to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is
lodged in the house of one Simon, a tanner by the seaside, who,
when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Immediately, therefore,
I sent thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now,
therefore, are we all here present before God to hear all things
that are commanded thee of God. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.
But in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. The word which God sent under
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is
Lord of all. That word I say ye know, which
was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good. and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with him. And we're witnesses of all
things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him, God raised up the
third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink
with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to
preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was
ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. To him give
all the prophets witness, and through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished,
as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak
with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any
man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to Terry
certain days. A few weeks ago, I was, I hadn't
had a vision, but I was kind of like Cornelius. I called these
four men, these four men who are gifted, gifted preachers
and dear friends, and asked them, I'd like to have a conference.
Would you come help us? Would you come help us? And they
all said, yes. Yes, we'll come. I mean, we're
all gathered here together to hear what God has commanded you. And I can't wait to hear it.
I can't wait to hear it. I pray that the Lord bless you
in preaching and that the Holy Spirit will bless us, enable
us to hear, to hear what the Lord's given you to preach. All
right, let's bow together. Our Father, we're so thankful
for this opportunity that you've given to us to meet together,
to hear your gospel preached, to be able to hear and rejoice
in Christ our Savior. And Father, I pray that in these
next three days that you give us a special time of worship.
We're so thankful to see friends from far away and to be with
one another, get to fellowship with one another. But Father,
above all, how we beg of you that you bless your words as
preached. I pray that you'd be with your servants that you've
brought here to one more time preach the glorious gospel of
Christ our Savior. Father, I pray you'd send your
spirit upon them, that you'd enable them to preach. Not to
just go through the motions, but to preach. And Father, enable
us to hear. Be with Mike especially in just
a few minutes as he comes to preach to us. Father, bless him.
Bless him. Uphold him with thy spirit. Open
his mouth that he might, in clear and simple terms, proclaim unto
us the glorious riches of Christ our Savior. Father, it's in his
name. For his sake and his glory, we
pray. Amen. All right, Sean. If you would, turn in your hymnals
to song number 466. We'll sing Christ Liveth in Me. Once far from God and dead in
sin, no light my heart could see. But in God's Word, the light
I found. Now Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. What a salvation this, that Christ
liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder
sun, the flowers of earth set free. So life and light and love
came forth from Christ living in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. What a salvation this, that Christ
liveth in me! As lives the flower within the
seed, as in the comb the tree. So praise the God of truth and
grace. His spirit dwelleth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. What a salvation this, that Christ
liveth in me! With longing all my heart is
filled, that like Him I may be. As on the wondrous thought I
dwell, that Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this, that
Christ liveth in me. OK, if you would now turn to
song number 255. We'll sing Blessed Assurance. If you would, please stand. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of
God. Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood. This is my story, this is my
song, Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my
song, Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission,
perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst
on my sight. Angels descending bring from
above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this
is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission,
all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and blessed,
Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness,
lost in His love. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Savior all the day long. Our first speaker tonight is
Pastor Mike Walker, pastor of the Millside Baptist Church in
Cottageville, West Virginia. Pastor to some of the dearest
people on this planet. Pastor, just, you're blessed,
ain't you, Mike? Mike Walker is one of the very
favorites of this congregation. When our folks found out I invited
Mike, I was the toast of the town. and he's one of our favorites
with good reason. God's gifted him to preach his
gospel. Mike, you come preach what the
Lord's given to you for us to hear. I'll say this, if we're at anything,
it's because of him. If you would be turning in your
Bible to Luke chapter 7, I got kind of the honor to be
asked to be here. And it is such a blessing to
see some people I hadn't seen in several years would get so
wrapped up in everything else. But you know, one day this is
how it's going to be all the time. All the time. While you're turning, I want
to just share something with you, maybe spare you and me both
of some embarrassment. I was supposed to go to the dentist
on Monday. Well, and I was scheduled to
preach in the morning. Well, I had to go to Charleston
anyway, and the people called me the day before, and they said,
well, if you want to come, you can get it done on Thursday. So I had
it did yesterday. I had a tooth removed, and they
put a temporary in there. And this is the first time I've
tried to preach with it, so if it comes out, I don't know who's
going to be more embarrassed, you or me. So, enough for that. Turn to
Luke, yeah, Luke chapter 22. Beginning in reading in verse
31. This is the account of Peter. The
Lord allowed him to be sifted. This account is recorded in all
four of the Gospels. In Luke 22, verse 31, and the
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you
that he may sift you like wheat. But I prayed for thee, that thy
faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren. Notice that statement. He said,
when you're converted, strengthen the brethren. And he said unto
him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both into prison and to
death. And our Lord said, I tell you,
Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice
deny that thou knowest me. Now to look down at verse 54. Then took they him, speaking
of our Lord, and they led him and brought him into the high
priest's house. And Peter followed afar off.
And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and
were set down together, Peter sat down with these people among
them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire and
earnestly looked upon him and said, this man was also with
him. And he denied him, saying, woman,
I know him not. And after a little while, another
saw him and said, thou art also one of them. And Peter said,
man, I am not. And about the space of one hour
after another confidently confirmed or affirmed saying of a truth,
this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. Peter said,
man, I know not what they'll say immediately. He had much
more got the words out of his mouth than the cock crew. In verse 61, the Lord turned
and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cock crowed,
thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Why would our great God see fit
to record this about this man? If we had been writing, we would
have left this out, or we would have changed it so it doesn't
just seem so bad. It is as bad as it seems. Why
did he do that? To remind all of us the best
of men or many best. We carry about with us called
an old man who shall deliver us from the body of this death
that can do nothing but sin. Sin. Our Lord is going to use
this and he did use it. to make Peter. This didn't happen
by accident. It happened on purpose. Our Lord
told him exactly what was going to happen. And then, isn't it
amazing that these three individual people pointed him out and said,
I know who you are. You was with him. You was with
him. He said, no, I wasn't. No. And then he began to cuss
and to swear. We see here, God's going to strengthen
Peter. He said, when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. How does God make a child of
God? He puts him in the fire. How does he make a preacher?
He takes him on the backside of the desert for 40 years. How
does he make a church? He sends trials, afflictions,
heartaches to teach us to look to him, not to our own strength.
How does he cause his people to grow in grace and in faith?
He puts them in the sift and begins to sift them. The flower
must be sifted. I remember when I was just a
boy, and that's been a pretty good ways back. You only had
probably one kitchen cabinet besides the sink cabinet, which
had a piece of cloth in front of it, was what they called an
oozer cabinet. I think it's an oozer or a hooser cabinet. It
was so wide, about as wide as this pulpit, and it had a metal
top on it. But up here it had a little door
you pulled open like this. And what you did, you'd pour
your flour in it. And at the bottom of it, it had
a little crank. You know what he did? He sifted that flour.
Because there was chaff, there was other things that didn't
need to be in there that's gotta come out. That's what the Lord's
doing to Peter. He's gonna sift you. He said,
Satan hath desired you that he may sift you like wheat and I'm
gonna let him. But the Lord's hand was the one that was cranking
the sift. Just like when the Lord told
Satan about Job, he said, you can touch his body but you can't
take his life. Why would God allow Peter or
allow us to be sifted like wheat? What happens when you sift something?
You separate the precious from the vile. It's so close and so
intertwined, you just keep sifting it. And sometimes when you get
done, it's like a little screen is what it is. It's just got
real small holes that all will fall through is the wheat. You
may see rocks, it doesn't tell them what you'll find in there.
It'd have to be brought out. Until the wheat is separated
from the chaff, it's not fit for making bread. And our Lord
uses many sifts to sift his people. What are some things that our
Lord uses to sift his people? And one, he may use prosperity.
We think, well, surely that wouldn't be a trial. But listen to what
the scriptures say, 1 Timothy 16. For the love of money, not
money, but the love of it. And every one of us in here Love
it. It's not just the greenback we
love. We love what it brings. We love
the prestige and all those other things. The love of money is
the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they
have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows. You know what this is? This is
a warning and an admonition to us as children of God. You know
what the Lord's doing here? He's strengthening in us. He
says, beware of these things. They're real. By the time we
think, I can handle that, we'll be like Peter. Everybody else
made it. Everybody else made it. Not me. Not me. Then he'll use adversity. Many who were poor would be ruined
if they were suddenly or even gradually made rich. And many
who are rich would be ruined if they became impoverished.
But there are many other adversaries which separate the wheat from
the chaff. Sickness. Some people go through
it and it just seems like they keep going, going right after
another. Domestic trouble. An abusive spouse. A disobedient
child. Or just losing a loved one. Or
trials. So I thought, I believed. I told
my church one time when I was pastoring back in North Carolina,
I said, you know, we say we believe in Romans 8, 28. We say we believe
that God is sovereign over all things. I said, well, just wait.
Little did I know that in 2008, the Lord would take my wife.
And then you go, wow, I thought I believed. I thought I had some
patience. I thought I had some faith. There
was days it didn't seem like I had anything. You know why it happened? It
all happened on purpose. I can tell you this, from example,
when something like that happens, you begin to look at things a
whole lot different. Then we have soul trouble, trouble
with our heart. You might be able to deal with
the things from without, but what about the things from within?
Like I said, we carry with us an old wretched man that I am. You know, the picture is that
if you was called as a criminal, maybe you killed someone, they
would take that person's body and tie it to your body so you
would have to carry that body around everywhere you went. As
it decayed, you smelled it, you felt it, you couldn't get away
from it. Robert Hawker described it in an even worse case. He
said they put it on the front of you, and your face was right
in with that old man. I go, yeah, I can relate to that. Soul trouble. I can see Peter. I wonder how he felt when the
Lord turned and just looked at him. When the cops crew, it woke
him up. It's like he was asleep. He woke
him up, and then the Lord turned, with eyes of compassion and eyes
of grace, just turned and looked at him, and broke his heart. You know what he did? Humbled
him. Humbled him. Then temptation is a sieve. Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and Aaron were sifted by the fear of men. The
fear of men brings a snare. Rachel was sifted by envy and
jealousy. She said, give me a child or
I'll die. You know what? She did die, having
Benjamin. I preached the message one time,
be careful what you wish for. But she was jealous of all the
other wives and concubines having children. She couldn't. David
was sifted by lust and power. Solomon by women and adultery.
And every believer has been and shall be tempted. Many times we felt from within and we wanted to just cry out,
it's enough. I can't stand it anymore. It's
just, it's all that I can bear. Now you picture Simon. You imagine trying to face somebody. I claim to be, I claim that I
loved him and everybody else made a part and they all said,
we won't leave you. Peter said, I'm done with it.
I'm going fishing. But that doesn't mean he's going
to go out on Saturday evening and just go fish just for a minute. No, you know what he was before
the Lord converted him? He was a fisherman. And I'd say
he's probably got a boat hid somewhere under a tarp somewhere.
He goes and he jerks that tarp off. And you know what? When
he went, you notice how everybody's following Peter? They said, we'll
go too, Peter. We'll go with you in the boat.
And that's what they did. He wasn't saying, I'm just going
back fishing. I'm going back to what I know
to do. That's what he thought. And if
the Lord had left him, that's where he would have been. But
I love that when the Lord come to him, when he was on the beach
that day and he fixed him something to eat, and he called to him
and said, and I knew it was him. And he said, if he caught anything,
if he caught anything. No, I hadn't caught nothing.
You know, all I did was just waste my time and everybody else's
time. Cast your net on the wrong side
of the boat. But what I'm saying is he said,
I'm just, I'm done with it. Peter went bitterly. I love what
our Lord said. If you ever just take a few minutes
and just think about this, ponder this. He said, Peter, called
him by name. He said, Peter, I prayed for
you. I prayed for you, Peter. What
did he say? And he told him what he prayed
for. I prayed that thou faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
it's not a question is if, but it's a question of when thou
art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Our Lord didn't pray
for Judas. He was in the sieve and look
where he wound up. What does faith do when it's
sifted? It will cause us to look to Christ, not our faith. We
look to Christ, the object of our faith. How did our Lord recover Peter? I don't know where you're at
tonight, but he knows where you're at. He knows how to recover you.
He knows how to bring you back, and he does. Prone to wonder,
Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. But what does
he use? He uses, as I've already mentioned, the work of providence. God can make a rooster crawl,
a crow when he's supposed to. He done denied two or three,
two other times and nothing happened. But there was something different
this time. The Lord told that rooster to crow, and he has a
lot of roosters that can crow. And when they do, you know what,
he remembered. The Lord looked at him and he
did what he remembered. You know what we're prone to
do? Forget. I'm gonna show you in a few minutes
some things just from the epistle of Peter that he'd written. My mind just went blank. But we looked to Him. And He
turned and looked to Him. It was a look of love. Peter
didn't turn and look to our Lord. He didn't look upon Him in anger,
but in grace. What brings a man the goodness
of God leads a man to repentance? I could see him say, I'm done
for. I'm done for. I love it when our Lord rose
from the dead in Mark 16. He said, you go tell the disciples.
And he told them, he said, when I'm risen from the dead, I'll
meet with you in Galilee. And he said, but go your way,
tell his disciples. Oh yeah, don't forget to tell
Peter. He didn't say, go tell John on
purpose, or Peter, I mean, Bartholomew, or one of the others. He said,
now you be sure when you tell Peter. Can you imagine what that
stirred his heart? He is alive. He is alive. What do we learn from this? We
learn something about ourselves. You may be like me, I'm 65 years
old, and you would think by now, I would know a little bit about
Mike Walker, but I really don't know much about him. He's an
old deceitful creature. He likes to plot and plan and
just likes to do everything to aggravate me. I remember an article
you wrote one time, you said it's like two men living in a
complex. One wants to go work every day and come back in and
go lay down and take care of things and then get up the next
morning and go to work. Well, you know what the other
guy wants to do? He wants to sit up all night long, play music
wide open, throw trash out in the front yard and just do things
just to aggravate you. Does that sound familiar to you? We learn something about ourselves.
What do we learn? He that thinks he stands, take
heed, lest he fall. We learn something about God's
grace. It's unconditional, it's sovereign,
it's free. And we learn something about
God's faithfulness. That's his sheep. And he brought
him back. Why did he, why did all this
happen? God's using this to make Peter. Why does all the things happen
in the world? To make you. He that hath begun
a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Christ Jesus.
I want to read you this poem. It's probably familiar to most
people. It was written by John Newton and I think probably William
Cowper helped him. Remember William Cowper, he had
trouble with his nerves. It said at one time he almost
went insane and they put him in an insane asylum. A believer? But you know what? The Lord used
that to make him. God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants
his footsteps in the sea and he rides. Let me read you this
one. It says, I asked the Lord that
I might grow in faith, in love, in every grace. Might more of
his salvation know, and to seek more earnestly his face. T'was
he who taught me thus to pray, and he I trust has answered prayer,
but it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some favored
hour, at once he'd answer my request, and by his love's constraining
power, subdue my sins and give me rest. I thought he would do
away with all this. I wouldn't have to deal with
this anymore. Instead of this, he made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart, and let the angry powers of hell
assault my soul on every part. Yea, more with his own hand he
seemed, intent to aggravate my woe. Crossed all my fair designs
I schemed, blasted my gorge and laid me low. Lord, why is this? Why is this, Lord? I trembling
cried. Will thou pursue thy worm to
death? Tis is the way, the Lord replied. I answer prayer for grace. and faith. These inward trials
I employed from self and pride to set thee free and break thy
schemes of earthly joy. He said, I brought all this to
pass, that thou mayest findest thou all in me. He said, Peter, when thou art
converted, strengthen Thy brethren. We know Peter was already converted.
He was already a believer. This is the man who said, Thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. And he said, flesh
and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my father did. He
said, when you are restored, when you're brought back, when
I brought you back like a wandering sheep, you strengthen. I want
to show you, this helped me. Peter was just a man, but God
used him. He wrote two small letters called
epistles. They were inspired of God, but
you see Peter's personality in what he wrote. You see Paul's
personality. You see other men. You see when
David and Moses and these men wrote. But Peter wrote, why did
he write this? For our good and his glory. I can say one thing, Peter knew
what he was writing about. I know God inspired him, but
he knew firsthand some things. Those are some of the things
I want to take just a minute and just look at. Turn to 1 Peter
1.5. First Peter 1, 5. Do you think would the Lord use a man
like this? Well, he sure did. I love that
frank that you read there when he came to Cornelius' house.
And the Lord used that man to preach to those people that were
gathered in that place. And they preached on the day
of Pentecost, and 5,000 souls were saved. These were unlearned
and ignorant men, just fishermen. But the Lord used them. 1 Peter
1.5, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. We are kept by the power
of God. We need to be reminded, we don't
keep ourself. He keeps you. He's able to keep
you from falling. We are kept by the power of God.
1 Peter 1.24, for all flesh is grass. 1 Peter 1.24, for all flesh is
grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The
grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. Oh, all flesh, yeah, it's just
old withering, withering grass. 1 Peter 2.7, unto you, therefore which believe
he is precious. He is precious. And he is. First Peter 2.11, dearly beloved,
I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims which we are, we're
strangers and pilgrims in this world. This world is not our
home. Abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul. Strengthen his brethren. Abstain from fleshly lust, which
war against the soul. 1 Peter 2.24. to his own self, bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should
live into righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For
you were a sheep. You think he remembered wandering,
for you were a sheep, going astray, but are now returned into the
shepherd and bishop of your soul. I mean, 1 Peter 3, verse 12. For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous. He's over them. He looks over
them. He protects them. He keeps them. They're over the
righteous. And his ears are open unto their prayers. I prayed, Lord, would you forgive
me of this sin? And Lord, do you hear my prayers?
Does he hear our prayers? He says, the eyes of the Lord
are over the righteous and his ears are opened until their prayers
are not, his ears are not closed. But the face of the Lord is against
them. They're too evil. First Peter 3.18. For Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. 1 Peter 4, 8. Above all things have fervent
charity among yourselves, for charity, love shall cover The
multitude of sins. You know what the Lord did when
he restored Peter? He covered a multitude, a multitude
of sins. Now turn to 1 Peter 4 verse 12. Just bear with me a few minutes. Beloved, he's speaking to us,
he's speaking to believers. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you. These things are not strange.
But rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's suffering.
And when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding
joy. If you be reproached for the
name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit of glory and of
God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or a busybody
in other men's matters." Who's he writing to? He's writing to
us. He's writing to the beloved.
You mean he would admonish us? God would admonish us? Well,
sure he would. Talking about evildoers and busybodies. Yet
if any man suffer as a Christian, as a child of God, let him not
be ashamed. But let him glorify God on this
path. Don't you see this? For the time
has come. that judgment must begin at the house of God. And
if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel? And if the righteous scarcely
with difficulty be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner
appear? Wherefore, let him that suffer according to the will
of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well-doing
as unto a faithful creator. Now, chapter five, verse two. He's strengthening the brethren.
Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof not by constraint, but willingly not for filthy
lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elders. Yea,
all of you, all of us, be subject one to another, and be clothed
with humility. For God resisteth the proud.
and give grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. You know what he'll do? He'll
humble us. He resists the proud. He gives
grace to the humble. Casting all your, verse seven,
casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. Be sober. Be vigilant. Why should we be
sober and vigilant? Because your adversary, the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom
resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the
God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after you've suffered a while, what does this suffering
cause? What does it do? What does it
perform? It's going to make you perfect. And one day, he's going to make
you perfect when you put off that vile body. But in this world,
you know what I mean? He's going to make you mature.
He will. He's going to make you perfect.
He will establish you. He will strengthen you. And he
will settle you. Remember, I've told my children
when they were growing up, I'd say, y'all need to settle down. That's kids, we act just like
kids. He makes us perfect, he establish
you, he'll strengthen you, and he will settle you. Now turn
to 2nd Peter, just a few from 2nd Peter and we'll be through. Peter said in 2nd Peter 1.13,
yeah I think it meet, All right, as long as I'm in
this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.
I didn't tell you anything tonight new. But by God's grace, I pray
that I've just stirred all of our minds and our hearts to remember
that he is precious. He is precious by way of remembrance. How many times have you read
Romans 828? It never gets old. Or you read a passage. How many
times have you read John 3? Or any other scripture. It's
just like, he brought it to your memory. Or you're struggling
with something and don't even know what to say. And the Lord
brings a verse to your memory. He stirs you up. When I think
about something being stirred up, when we were growing up,
we had what they call wood stoves. A wood heater, a wood stove.
The stove's what you cook on. You don't cook on the heater.
You work on the stove. They'd open that up, and overnight,
the wood would almost go out. It'd be just a few hot embers
there. And you know what I remember
my grandmother doing? She'd take a few little dry pieces
of wood and put them in there. And you know what she'd do? She'd
blow on it. First thing you know, that flame
would begin to build up. And you know, that's such a picture
of us. The fire will never go out, but it needs stirring it
up by way of remembrance. Tell me about his grace. Tell
me about his mercy. Remind me. Remind me. You know why? Because I'm so
prone to forget. Look at that. Go back and read
it again. It didn't take Peter two or three days to forget.
It didn't take him long to remember either. Chapter 2, 2 Peter 2, verse 19. He says, while they promise you
liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption, for
whom a man is overcome of the same as he brought in bondage. Now, he knew something about
that. 2 Peter 3, 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness. But he's long-suffering
to us. Not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. And we know who he's talking
to there. He's long-suffering. Suffers long, and he's kind,
and he's patient. 2 Peter 3.15, and we account
that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. Let me read you one more, and
we'll close. 2 Peter 3.17. When you're converted, Peter,
strengthen your brethren. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
you know these things before, you know these things, beware
lest you also being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness. The growing grace, Lord, that
was the growing grace. And in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, to him be glory, both now and forever. And the God of peace, who has
called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you've
suffered a while, just for a while, he's gonna make you perfect,
establish, strengthen. I pray the Lord uses that to
strengthen your heart and cause us to look to him, amen. I absolutely love when a preacher
gets right down to dust with me and preaches to me there. Todd, you said in your preacher
school, don't be preaching from an ivory tower. I like it when
a man gets down to dust with me and preaches Christ to me.
What strengthens me, every believer here will say the same thing,
is reminding me I'm nothing, I'm weak, I can't do one blessed
thing, wait on the Lord. That's when we're strong. All
right, we're going to take about a 10 or 15 minute break, and
then we'll come back. And Brother Donnie Bell is going
to bring us a message.