I had a call yesterday from Brother
Cliff Heller. He and his wife Marty are doing
very well and send their greetings to you. Turn with me for our
text this morning to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter
2. I have a message for you today
that I've been preparing for 40 years. A message for which
God has been preparing me for 40 years. That fact alone ought
to get your attention. Now, I don't pay much attention
to numerology as a subject. to deal with in studying scripture. I recognize that there are certain
numbers that have significance in scripture, but I don't generally
pay much attention to the school of study called biblical numerology,
simply because men have used numbers to invent all kinds of
schemes of prophecy, predicting things, even predicting the second
coming of Christ and the end of the world. I don't think there's
some secret mystery behind every number used in Scripture. But
in the Bible, numbers do have meaning. One number is frequently
used in Holy Scripture is 40. I'm certain that 40 has no specific
meaning, no specific meaning at all. But many things in scripture
are related to that number 40. It rained 40 days and 40 nights
during the flood. Noah waited in the flood 40 days
before he sent the raven out after seeing the tops of the
mountains. Moses, on three consecutive periods, spent 40 days and 40
nights in Mount Sinai. Moses sent 12 men to spy out
the land of Canaan and they spied it out for 40 days. The children
of Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years. A year for every day
they spied out the land. Several of Israel's kings, the
first three kings in Israel, Saul and David and Solomon, all
reigned for 40 years. Elijah on one occasion walked
40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb in the strength of one
piece of angel food cake. Before his temptation, our Lord
Jesus fasted for 40 days, and he was tempted in the wilderness
40 days of the devil. Our Savior walked on this earth
40 days after his resurrection before his ascension back to
glory. As I said, I don't think there's any specific meaning
spiritually, any specific instruction to be had from the number 40.
But just a little bit more than a month ago, on February 24th,
our scripture reading calendar took us to Deuteronomy chapters
two, three, and four for our reading. As a general rule, my
wife reads the chapters assigned for that day in the calendar,
and then she will read Fortner's devotional work, and then she'll
read Hawker's work, and then she'll read Spurgeon's work.
This particular day when she finished her readings, she came
into the room where I was, Bible in hand, laughing with tears
and weeping with joy. She said, we sure can't say amen
to this. And she read to me my text this
morning, Deuteronomy chapter two and verse seven. For the Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking. through this great wilderness,
these 40 years, the Lord thy God hath been with thee. Thou
hast lacked nothing." When she finished reading, we both laughed
with tears and wept with joy, and I knew immediately what my
text would be today. Forty years ago today, you called
me to be your pastor. You might have You might say
I've been preparing this message these 40 years. That's the title
of my message, 40 years, 40 years. The Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking
through this great wilderness these 40 years. The Lord thy
God hath been with thee. Thou hast lacked nothing. Forty years of mercy, mercy experienced
at the hands of God, ought to inspire devotion in us to our
God. Forty years of mercy suggest
many thoughts to my mind concerning the past that teach us much that
will be of use to us for the future as well as for the present.
It should influence us aright for the days before us. Let me
call your attention to three or four things here. Number one,
let's look back at the past in the light of our text. The Lord
thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand. He
knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness. He's blessed
everything you've done. He knows every step you've taken.
These 40 years, the Lord thy God hath been with thee. Sometimes
he hid his face. Sometimes it looked like he was
against you, but he'd been with you. Thou hast lacked nothing. Notice the prominence Moses gives
to our God, not only in our text, but in all his writings. And
as I look back over the past 40 years, I see in them countless
bright lights displaying the presence of God conspicuously. Bright lights making us to know
that the path in which we walk is the path God's given us, and
it's lit before us as if it were a holy ground for us to walk
in. This is God's work. I have said to you before, I
think, publicly, I know I've said it to some of you men privately,
at the time you called me to be your pastor. Had you called
me just a month earlier, I would not have come. I had been a lookout
for nine years, and while we had nine years of constant badness
nonsense, business meetings and folks fighting and squabbling,
brother with brother and sister with sister, blood can as well
as folks in the church. Just nine years of constant bickering
and squabbling and yakking. God had in the last year, brought
about 30 students from Appalachian Bible College over to look out. They drove about 35 miles. Shelby fixed lunch for them every
Sunday. And because of the fact that
they had been brought under the influence of a ministry, I would
not have left them. But at the end of the semester,
when the second semester started in school that year, the president
of the school banned one church One church in the whole world,
Appalachian Bible College students couldn't attend, and that would
look out back at the church, because that fellow over there,
he's a hyper-Calvinist. And so the students were no longer allowed
to come. In fact, when we moved here, a couple of couples moved
down here with us for a little while. And then you called me
to be your pastor. When I showed up here and we
had services together, I called Shelby after the first service,
and I said, I believe for the first time
in my life, I've met some folks who desperately need and want
a pastor. And I believe this is the place
for us. And if God's pleased to put me here, this is where
we're going. When you called me as your pastor,
asked me to come down here, I didn't ask you what you could do for
me financially, but at that time you offered to give me What I
found out later was about $100 more a week than you took in
the year before. And somehow God's always provided
for it. The ungodly man, of course, leads a godless life. Because
God is not in all his thoughts, God doesn't appear to him in
all his ways. But to the godly, God's hand
is playing everywhere. God's hand is playing everywhere. To those who have seeing eyes,
and believing hearts and hearing ears. To us, the existence of
God is not a matter of theory, but it's something observed in
the daily experience of life. It's verified by actual experience
day after day. And it's been that way since
the day God first called us by His grace. Surely you can remember
that. when the Lord appeared to you
just as clearly as he appeared to Moses at the burning bush
and you began to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God called
you to see his face and hear his voice. And you lifted your
heart to heaven for the first time. And God whose face you
dreaded, whose name you cursed, whose name you feared, you looked
upon him and said, Abba, Father. My father, believing on his son,
you drew near to God because he made himself known to you.
As really so, as he made himself known to those three Hebrews
walking in the fiery furnace in the book of Daniel. Do you
remember God's marvelous revelation of himself? Oh, what hand was
that which took the reins and crushed your stubborn will and
turned you to himself? What hand but omnipotence could
have wore out such a work? To every believer, his own conversion
is a conspicuous miracle and always remains such. The sweet,
saving revelation of Christ. What a wondrous thing it is.
In the new birth, men try to explain the new birth. They write
books, how to be born again. Anytime you see one, don't pick
it up because the fellow doesn't know what he's talking about.
The new birth is a mystery. A mystery no man can explain.
God comes to live in a man. God comes to take up residence
in a man. God comes forever to live in
you. That's called the new birth.
When God comes in life, he brings with him conviction. Real conviction. Real conviction. And real conviction
produces genuine conversion. Turn over to the book of Titus,
if you will. Let's read about some of this. When God comes in grace, he performs
reconciliation. When God comes in grace, he gives
faith. Titus chapter two, verse 11.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men, teaching us that it is this grace that brings salvation.
We've declared it everywhere. It's preached everywhere. And
when it comes to God's elect, it comes in effectual power,
teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. God comes
in grace, and when God comes, he teaches. And when God teaches,
you get the lesson. He teaches us to live soberly,
righteously, and godly, to live with sobriety, men and women
for eternity, righteously, believing on the Son of God in this present
world, godly, in a way that honors God, looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purified to himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works. Christ came here and made us
to know himself as that one who redeemed us from all iniquity
and purified us, sanctified us, made us righteous and holy, and
made us a peculiar people. The word peculiar doesn't mean
odd. like folks who live in Amish community down below Liberty
or folks who live in strange ways, dress funny and talk funny.
That's not what it means. Peculiar means special people,
special people, people particularly cared for, people of his distinct
care, people zealous of good works. Turn to Ephesians chapter
two, Ephesians two. The Apostle Paul describes this
again. This new birth, he says, you hath be quickened, the word
is made alive, who were dead in trespasses and in sins. That's
where we were when God came to us, dead in trespasses and in
sins. Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. We were all just like everybody
else. Among whom also we all had our conversation in time
past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.
That is, men and women who hated God. Men and women who knew themselves
under the wrath of God, even as others. But God, oh, what
wondrous words. But God, I was running madly,
headlong into hell, madly, headlong into destruction, madly headlong
into everlasting ruin, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. That is, he made
us alive in union with Jesus Christ. By grace, ye are saved,
and hath raised us up together. and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he
did it for this reason, he might show forth the exceeding riches
of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
the grace didn't come from you, The salvation didn't come from
you. The faith didn't come from you. It is the gift of God. Not
of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. God's masterpieces. His masterpieces. Oh my. Look in the mirror and
see the best that God can do. His masterpieces. God's masterpieces
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. God gave us life and
faith in Christ, creating us in the image of his dear son,
that we should walk in good works. and ordained that we should.
And if God created us for that purpose and ordained us for that
purpose, you can be dead sure God will perform it. Believers
are men and women who walk with God in good works. God accepts their lives, the
totality of their lives, as a good work wrought on the Lord Jesus. Turn back to John 16. John 16. I said with this new birth comes
conviction. When the Lord God makes himself
known, he brings conviction, real conviction, not spasms of
religion, not temporary fits of religion, not just an occasional
feeling of religion, real life conviction. Verse seven, our
savior says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient
for you. It is best for you. It is necessary
for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter
will not come unto you. If I don't go and die for you,
I'll not send my spirit to you. You'll never receive the blessing
of Abraham. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And
when he is come, he will reprove. The word is convince or convict. He will convict the world. Not
everyone in the world. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
He will convince you who are His elect, His redeemed ones,
wherever you're found in all the world, of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment. He will convince you of sin.
What does that mean? He'll convince you that it's
wrong to steal? No, you were born knowing that. He'll convince
you that it's wrong to tell a lie? Nope, you were born knowing that.
He'll convince you that it's wrong to rape, commit murder,
take your neighbor's wife. You were born knowing that. The
commandments of God are written on your heart. Romans 1 and 2
say so. What's this mean then? Convince
you of sin. Of sin because they believe not on me. Now listen to me. You listen
to me. The issue between you and God is His Son. The issue
between you and God is His Son. Not because you drink a beer
or smoke a cigarette or because you run around. The issue between
you and God is His Son. God demands that you bow to Christ
His Son and worship Him as Lord. That you believe on Him, trusting
Him alone for acceptance with God, trusting Him alone for all
righteousness and redemption, bowing to Him in obedience as
your King and Lord. He'll convince you of righteousness.
of righteousness. What is that? Not what you thought
it was. Of righteousness because I go
to my father and you see me no more. I came down here to fulfill
all righteousness. I came down here to bring in
everlasting righteousness. I came down here to magnify the
law and make it honorable. And now I go to my father and
when the spirit of God comes and reveals me in you, he'll
convince you righteousness is done. And he will convince you
of judgment. Judgment. Not the future great
white throne judgment. You were convinced of that when
you were born. You've lived all your life convinced of judgment
to come. Men try to deny it, but all men know they've got
a judgment to face. What's he saying? He'll convince
you that judgment is over. It's over for you for whom Christ
died. It's over for you for whom Christ
lived. It's over for you who were chosen
of God. Over for you who believe on the
Son of God because the Prince of this world is judged. You can never forget that when
you came into actual contact with the Holy Lord God and felt
his hand upon you. You can never forget the fact
of God's coming to you. It's not a matter of feeling.
It's more than that. It's not a matter of learning.
It's more than that. It's a matter of life. I will
come to you and I will comfort you. I will come to you. I'll
give you life. I'll give you faith. When God
comes in the new birth, God comes to make man whole again. Man
was created in body, soul, and spirit. When he died in the garden,
he died spiritually, so that man naturally is born body and
soul. And then when God comes in grace,
God sends his spirit in you and creates a new man in you. Christ
Jesus, the Lord, in righteousness and true holiness, gives you
a new nature, makes you partaker of the divine nature. And now
man is body, soul, and spirit again. We came directly into
contact, actual contact with the eternal God. Our souls are
bound up in a bundle of life with the soul of God in his Son. That's called the new birth.
For some of us, many days have passed since then, but those
days have brought with them fuller displays of God's power, God's
grace, and God's being. Oh, what sweet times of communion. What sweet times of communion.
I don't pretend what's not so. I don't pretend always to be
living on the mountaintop, living in sweet realization of God's
presence. Oh, but oh my soul. I wouldn't take anything for
sweet times of communion when God comes to me. and makes himself
known to me in his sword, in his mercy, in his forgiveness,
in his goodness. Sometimes that we meet together
here in the house of God, sometimes, not often, but sometimes, sometimes
we come in and God comes in with us and makes himself known in
our midst and we worship him. Sometimes in private, when we're
reading the scriptures and praying, sometimes long after that in
the day when something comes up and we're by ourselves, God
comes and allows us to worship him. We have joyful remembrances
of his goodness. Sometimes even blessing experiences
in prayer. Not much, but sometimes. To you
who don't know the Lord Jesus, Poor ungodly soul. I'm casting pearls before swine
when I speak of these things. These things are secrets of the
Lord which belong only to God and his children. They're things
unlawful for man to take to his tongue, but they can never be
erased from our memories. When we pass through remarkable
circumstances in which the right hand of the Lord has clearly
been seen as our troubles themselves, then we know God's presence.
This poor man, the psalmist said, cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles. Oh, how often that's
been the case. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and the Lord saved him out of all his troubles.
Brought more often than not by our own faults, by our own failure
and the great difficulties. It's now been, my soul, what,
53 years since God saved me by his grace. And I have brought
a lot of trouble to myself since then, by my own sin, by my own
rebellion, by my own unbelief. But even then, we have had the
path plain before us, and God says, this is the way, walk ye
in it. And he comes and puts us in the
way, takes us by the hand and leads us in the way, and sweetly
forces us in the way. He sweetly forces us ever to
walk in the straight and narrow way, trusting Christ alone. Plunged into the sea like Jonah
was, by our own waywardness, we've been carried safely to
the dry land on a whale of God's making to sing salvation is of
the Lord. These 40 years since God brought
us together in this place, we look back upon them with delight.
Tracing the wells of Elam and the fruit-bearing palms, the
pools in the valley of Mecca, and the places of encampment
in the desert wilderness. How sweetly we adore the overruling
providence of God. The overruling providence of
our ever-gracious, bountifully merciful God. We've been like
Hagar in the wilderness, ready to perish, but the Lord has shown
us a way, and we have made to cry with Hagar, thou God seest
me. Let us magnify him. Our good
shepherd has not left us to wander alone. Our heavenly friend has
been better to us than a brother or a sister. He's manifested
himself to us in a way he doesn't manifest himself to the world.
In this we glory, even as Paul gloried in the revelations he
had of God. so we will rejoice in the displays
of his mercy, his favor to us. And reading over the past 40
years of our wilderness journey together, these 40 years spoken
of in our text, the next thing that's noticed is the blessing
God gave. The Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. That's some statement. The Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. You remember what God promised
Abraham? He said, I will bless you. And
then he said, blessing, I will make you a blessing. And that
promise, God has fulfilled to us. We read earlier, the first
chapter of Ephesians. God has blessed us with all eternal
covenant blessings in Christ. And in Ephesians 2, he's blessed
us with blessings of grace experienced in our souls. He's blessed us
in this place with family blessings in his house. Family blessings,
oh, sweet family blessings. Shelby and I often speak of our
daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, as you do of yours, and God's
sweet family blessings. We often speak of God's family
blessings upon us in this place, in his house. For some reason,
known only to himself, God has given Grace Church in Danville
a voice in this generation. And he's done so since the beginning
of our labors together. He's allowed us the privilege
of establishing five gospel churches here, across the country, in
Ireland, and in Alaska. We have maintained over the years
a number of preaching points. I went for 25 years to Wichita
Falls, Texas every six weeks to preach to them. And they still
meet together, watch our videos every Sunday. God allowed us
to have many such places around the country. He's allowed us
to publish and distribute books all over the world. The Grace
Bulletin magazine, which by the way is ready and in the racks
in the back. We've been publishing that now 40 years, mailing it
all over the world. I go places sometimes and find
folks who keep every one of them, got them in a rack, keep every
one of them because they've been blessed of God to them. We're
allowed to have a hand in the work of visionaries. When Brother
Larry Brown came here several years ago, he was asking me,
he says, is there something I can do? And I said to him, I have
wanted for years to have a radio broadcast where we could have
gospel preaching 24 hours a day. And now with this internet, it
might just be possible. And God gave Larry the skill
to set things up for that Free Grace Radio broadcast with the
Don Fortner webpage where we post all the things I write and
preach. And it's being heard literally all over the world,
24 hours a day. Not just your pastor, other gospel
preachers we put on there all over the country. As he's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. He's blessed
us in all ways and He has blessed us always. He's blessed us beyond conception.
Blessed exceeding abundantly above anything we could ask or
even think. Beyond what we can even remember.
How has He blessed us? He's blessed us Bill, like a
God. He who is God has blessed us. He's protected us when others
sought to destroy us. He's united us when men sought
to divide us. He's provided for us our every
need. He's restored us from many faults
and many faults. He's blessed the work of our
hands, all the work of our hands these 40 years. One thing has
been taken up and then another. One labor which seemed impossible,
we've been able to accomplish and then take up another. And
at his feet, we lay the crown. It's his doing. It's his doing. I must confess a very special
favor of the Lord toward me. I must confess it to you and
confess it to me. You're looking at a man blessed Oh, how God has blessed me. How God has blessed me. How God
has blessed this assembly. If we held our voices, the stones
in the streets would cry out to our rebuke. Sometimes the
work of our hands appears to crumble to pieces. But then it's
rebuilt before our eyes by God's hand in a better style. Enemies have arisen. and they've
been exceedingly violent, but every one of them only to fulfill
some special purpose of God. Every time I've dealt with opposition
from a man, God has made his opposition a path of blessing
to someone. Sickness comes only to improve
our spiritual health. We've been made weak that we
might be made strong. The Lord has brought us down
that he might lift us up. He stripped us that he might
clothe us. He's laid us at death's door that we might know more
of divine life. Glory be to God. Our life has been a blessing
from beginning to end. So it has been with me. So it
has been with you, my brother, my sister. So it has been with
this assembly. Again, in retrospect to the past,
we ought to notice the perfection of the Lord's sympathetic tend
to care. Look at these next words. He
knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness. He knows the
steep mountains and the deep valleys. He knows the rough places
and the plain. He knows the dark swamps and
the dense forest. He knows the frightening things
and the pleasant things. He's known us, not just with
the knowledge of omniscience, but with the knowledge of our
Heavenly Father, the knowledge of divine predestination, the
knowledge of tender care, the knowledge of a sympathizing high
priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities. In all their
afflictions, he was afflicted. He's borne us upon eagle's wings
to himself again and again. We've had great losses. Some
of our friends endure heartbreaking bereavements. Just last week,
my friend, Brother Carter Brown, the Lord called him home, and
then Avalu Boren fell and broke her neck and died on Tuesday
morning. Her husband, Carl, died Friday morning. Lord, it took
both of them great emptiness in the church at Fairmont, great
emptiness in the church at Ashland, great emptiness in the hearts
of the families, but oh, how delighted they are with God's
goodness. Oh, God's great goodness. What
a great blessing. I think about Carl and Avalu,
just like that, going together. Sorrows, some of God's people,
some of you, our family, are more bitter than bereavement
would be. I know of them, you don't. Some
of our family are going through troubles. More heartbreaking trouble than
if they buried a husband or a wife. But as your days have been, so
your strength has been. And as your days shall be, so
your strength shall be. Let's move on. We've had the special presence
of God. These 40 years, the Lord thy
God hath been with thee. He's never been ashamed to be
with us, though we're often despised and ridiculed. Whenever we prayed,
we've had an audience with God, though we may not have known
it. We've worked and seen his mysterious hand at work behind
ours. And when we've had trouble, then tempted and trembled, we
felt his tender arms, omnipotent, supporting us. In bodily pain
he makes our bed in all our sickness. When we felt the fiery furnace
of trial, the Lord God has kept us, so well kept us that not
even the smell of the fire is upon us. The best of all, God
is with us. God is with us. And then he says,
thou hast lacked Thou hast lacked nothing. Sometimes we've been in a pinch,
but when we were, we can't possibly find anything
to drink. God opens up the rock following
us and water flows from the rock. God opens up the side of the
crucified Savior and honey from his side. The windows of heaven
open and the manna pours down from heaven. The Lord has seen
to it that we lacked nothing. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. No good thing. God has in the
fullest sense blessed us. Second, I'll be very brief. Forty years of blessing ought
to inspire in us utter devotion to our Savior. Consecration to
Him such as we've never had before. We ought this very day to give
ourselves afresh to our Savior. We ought to have learned to trust
Him. and trusting Him to trust no
other. He is our covenant God. Trust ye in the Lord forever. Do not be moved away from the
hope of the gospel set before you. Let nothing turn you away
from Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Beware of legality. Let no man
beguile you with legalism, with self-righteousness, with works.
As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. As you first came to Him, so
walk in Him. Trusting Christ, believing on
the Son of God, nothing else. Trusting His blood and His righteousness,
nothing else. His intercession, His providence,
nothing else. His power, His grace, nothing
else. Just trusting Him. forsaking
all, I trust him. The Lord has blessed us. He blessed
all that we have done these 40 years. So let us find more to
do. Over and over in our text, in
the seventh chapter, throughout the chapter, we read the Lord
thy God, The Lord thy God, the Lord thy God, Jehovah your God. Let us always remember him in
this special covenant relationship. Tis done, the great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and he is mine.
He drew me and I followed on, charmed to confess the voice
divine. High heaven that heard the solemn
vow, that vow renewed shall hear, until in life's latest hour I
bow and bless in death a bond so dear. And then the text speaks
of mercies yet ahead. I could say a great deal more,
but I've got to hurry. Having come so far on our journey,
as we've reached these 40 years together, We feel bound by powerful
influence of God upon us to look to him for blessings and only
blessings in the future. Look back in Deuteronomy 2, look
at verse 2. And the Lord spake unto me saying,
ye have come past this mountain long enough. Don, you walked
around this mountain long enough. Turn you northward. Where was
northward? Canaan. 40 years I've been walking with
you, traversing this mountain long enough. Soon God will take
me from here. He says, turn northward. Set
your heart toward heaven. March heavenward where we have
many who've gone before us. Someone wrote, Even now, by faith,
we join our hands with those that went before. And great the
blood besprinkled bands upon the eternal shore. Forty years
of mercy experienced ought to teach us to set our hearts, our
affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And certainly
ought to teach us that which is commanded in verse four. Command
thou the people saying, You're to pass through the coast of
your brethren, the children of Esau, which dwell in Syria, that
they shall be afraid of you, and they shall be afraid of you.
Take ye good heed unto yourselves, therefore. Now watch what it
says. Meddle not with them. Meddle
not with them, for I will not give you of their land. No, not
so much as a foot breadth, because I've given Mount Seir to Esau
for possession. He said, I gave this to Esau.
Esau sold his birthright for best pottage. He sold his birthright
to get a little riches. He sold his birthright to get
a little game. He sold his birthright to get
what the world provides. So I gave it to him. I set the
world in his heart. Don't you seek it. Don't you
seek it. This is Esau's heritage. Your
heritage is above. He says, meddle not with them. Meddle not with them. Don't let
the things that concern Esau concern you too much. Don't let
the things for which Esau grovels cause you to grovel. Don't seek
the things Esau seeks. They belong to him. This world
is not for you. He says, you shall buy meat of
them for money that you may eat. And you shall also buy water
of them for money that you may drink. When God first saved me,
I was not quite 17 years old. Not quite 17 years old. And I
met a preacher. Preacher across town, pastor,
one of these whoopee churches where they got a whole lot of
excitement and professions of faith all the time. And I heard
him actually say this. He saw in the paper that somebody
had a car for sale. He said, I'll go get him to give
it to me. I'll go get him to give it to me. I'll tell him
I'm a preacher and I need it. He'll give it to me. God said,
don't meddle with Esau. Don't go around this country
like beggars. Your son's the king. Your son's the king, don't
go begging. You pay a fair price for what
you get. Don't go begging in my name. Don't go begging, close
your mind. You belong to the king. Pay a
fair price for your food. A fair price for your drink.
Don't meddle with the world. Don't beg and grovel before the
world. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in
him. Keep yourselves in the love of
God. Keep yourselves in the love of
God. This is where I am. I am in Christ, in the love of
God. I've come past this mountain
long enough. I'm headed to a better country.
And I'm looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life with confident faith. Oh, would to God that were true
of every one of you. God grant you life and faith
in his son for Christ's sake. Amen.