All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to the book of Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter
10. Our Lord is going to give some instruction
to 70 preachers. And the scripture says, verse
1, Two, after these things, after the Lord had called, if you go
back, he had called his apostles. He called 12 apostles and instructed
them. And after these things, the Lord
appointed 70, other 70 also, and sent them two and two before
his face into every city and place, whether he himself would
come. He knew where he was going. Just
like when he went through Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria.
Why? There was a woman there that
he was going to meet at the well of Sycar. She was one of his
own. He was going to go get her. But
he sent these 70 that or to go two by two. And he said
unto them in verse two, therefore saith he unto them, the harvest
truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the
Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into
his harvest. Now, he told the 70. He said, there is a great harvest
of souls that are going to be gathered, obviously, out of the
earth. A harvest that Almighty God has
ordained and is going to be accomplished. Absolutely. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And the Lord would, by His Spirit,
send men forth as preachers. And this is what would happen.
They would go and they'd preach the gospel, and where the Spirit
of God was pleased to bless the gospel, God would cross those
that He'd everlastingly loved, and He's going to come to them
in regenerating grace, and He's going to remove that heart of
rebellion, and He's going to give them a new heart. He's going
to write His law, the law of Christ, on their heart, and they're
going to know that He is their God. They're His people. And so these laborers that are
gonna go, the Lord's gonna send 70 of them, but He's telling
these 70, He said, now, the harvest is great. He has many, many sheep elect. But He said, but the laborers
are few. Now, we know that. I've had so
many times it has been this statement will come up. And someone will
say, well, you know, some of the older preachers of
whom I'm one. I told you before, I used to
look at all the old preachers, you know, the old, old preachers. Well, now I am the old preachers,
one of them. And you say, well, yeah, but
I just, It's just not very many young ones that seem to be raised
up. You know, who's going to preach? And the Lord said, now listen,
the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few. And what
are we to do? Well, we're to pray that the
Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into his harvest. How many times have we looked
at that passage of Scripture in Ezekiel 36? I won't read it
again. You know what it says. All that
the Lord has promised He's going to do. He said, yet for all these
things will I be inquired of by the house of Israel. We are
to be praying that the Lord of the harvest, and He is the Lord
of the harvest. You know that. He's the Lord.
That He would send forth laborers into his harvest, it's the Lord's
harvest. He ordained it and he accomplishes
it. But we're gonna ask, we're going
to ask, Lord, would you send, would you raise up preachers
and would you send them forth into your harvest? We pray thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do you think his will is gonna
be done on earth as it is in heaven? He's gonna work all things after
the counsel of his own will. We know that. But he said, you
asked me for it. We ask in submission and we ask
in obedience. And then he told him in verse
three and four, you go your ways. And behold, I send you forth
as lambs among wolves and carry neither purse nor script or shoes
and salute no man by the way. Now the Lord sends forth his
laborers. And it is a labor. It's a labor
of love. It's a labor of obedience. It's
a labor. We labor in the word. Whether I'm standing here preaching
or you're sitting listening, it is a labor. It is a work of
dedication. A willing dedication, a thankful
dedication. Aren't you thankful that the
Lord would give you a heart to even want to be here? How many
of you, they just don't come, they don't care, but that the
Lord would give a heart. He said, I'm sending you forth
as laborers, as lambs among wolves, helpless ones. among those whose
heart it is to devour the lambs. He says, you're going to be hated
of all men for my namesake. But here I'm sending you forth
unto those that are going to hate you, that are going to ridicule
you, that are going to scorn you. Why? For the God you love,
for the Christ you love, for the gospel that you love. You're
going to be made fun of, He said, I'm the one that sent you forth.
And therefore, you go and you trust me. We're going to have
to go and you're going to go by faith and you're going to
believe that I'm not going to leave you and I'm not going to
forsake you. Those going, they're going to go believing that God's
going to meet every one of their needs. Well, I'm going to go
but I can't, you know, I've got to have some backup here. I've got to go." He said, you
go and don't you carry purse, script, shoes, and don't salute
any man. Salute no man by the way. Now
what does that mean? Well I can tell you this, in
that time when you saluted, it's not like us now, you know, like
when you see somebody and you stick out your hand and you shake
them. How you doing? Doing fine. Good to see you.
Now, when they saluted those, it was a long, drawn-out thing,
and there was so many formalities, and you had to, you know, throw
all the accolades on them and tell them how great they are.
And what it was, the Lord said, you don't stop. Don't you waste
time. That's what He's saying. Salute
no man because of the excessive time that it took. If they were
going around there every time they met somebody, you know,
talking about this, that, and the other things, mess, and stuff.
The Lord said, I'm sending you forth. You go believing me, believing
that I'm gonna provide for you, your food, your drink, your clothing,
and don't you be wasting your time. That's exactly what he
was saying. Matthew 6, 33, you seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Whenever we find things that
become more important than worshiping God, we're standing on shaky
ground. The Lord said, you follow me.
They weren't to be going out begging. I've seen men stand
up and they said, now, if you don't send your support, we're
going to have to shut this down. We'll shut it down then. This
ministry is not going to be able to continue. If this, that and
the other doesn't happen, if the Lord doesn't sustain it,
it's not going to be sustained. I can tell you that for a fact.
That's why this world's religion, you know, they're just beggars. They're beggars. That's all they
are. The scripture goes forth and
he said, you don't carry your purse, don't carry your First
Corinthians 9.14 says, even so hath the Lord ordained that they
which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Do I believe
that God's gonna sustain all of his people? Yes. Do I believe
God's gonna sustain me? Yes. Doesn't he work all things after
the counsel of his own will? So therefore, Look at verse five. And into whatsoever house you
enter, first say, peace be to this house. Matthew, I'll read
this if you want to turn, it's Matthew 10, 12. The Lord was
saying, same instruction, but this is the way the Spirit of
God moved on Matthew to say it. When you come into a house, salute
it. when saluting in the appropriate
way will take place, and it's when you get to where I'm sending
you. Along the way, don't be wasting your time. You go where
I told you to go. And you go and you come into
that house, you greet them in a civil and courteous manner,
that which is appropriate. There's times for everything. There's time and place for everything.
But then in verse 6 it says, and if the Son of Peace, when
you get to where I've sent you, If the Son of Peace be there,
your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you
again. Whenever the Lord providentially
sends us, we ought to be a blessing to those whose paths we cross. And God's servants should be
such that God they serve. The God they love, the gospel
they preach, should never be despised because of their ill
attitude. What he's saying, when you get
somewhere, you salute them to them, you be courteous to them.
I've told you this before, I was a man that I knew years ago in
another state, and claimed to believe the gospel, claimed to
believe it, claimed to believe be Calvinistic in his doctrine,
claimed at five points of Calvinism, predestination, God's electing
grace, and stuff like this. And he was absolutely the rudest,
most inconsiderate, most unthankful person I ever met in my life. I mean, when I think of someone
that just is so rude, he's the guy I think of. And I thought,
And here's the thing. He didn't continue in what he
said he believed. The Lord made it evident. He
wasn't. If our Lord has been pleased
to bless His Word, He said, if the Son of Peace be there, when
you get there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall
turn to you again. If He's been pleased to bless
His Word where He sends you, His blessing will be made manifest. You're going to know it. The
people that you come in contact with, He's going to bless them
like you've been blessed, and you're going to reciprocate.
But if not, you're not going to have a favorable return. He
said, I'm going to send you where I say. Why does the Lord send
preachers sometime to places in the Gospels not received there?
Well, it may be for the blessing of that place or for the condemnation
of that place. The Lord sends people where he
wants to send them. What are we to do? You go and
preach the gospel. That's what you do. Don't you
try to be a social worker, or you know, I'm going to fix all
these problems here. No. You go and preach the gospel. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. That's what we do. That's all
we do. Verse 7 to 9, it says, and in the same house remain,
eating, drinking such things as they give, for the laborer
is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house, and
into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such
things as are set before you. Heal the sick that are therein,
and say unto them, the kingdom of God. is come nigh unto you. Now don't be found going, actually
what he's saying is don't be fickle. Unstable, flighty, that's
the message that he's saying. You trust the Lord who placed
you where He did. And you maintain where you are
until He makes it quite evident that a change is going to take
place. Whenever the Lord is pleased
to make a change, you'll know it. And until He does, stay there. He said the laborer
is worthy of his hire and the Lord is the one who provides
through those that He's allowed the privilege to hear the truth.
God will provide. Can the Lord raise up a table
in the wilderness? He sent all of His people out
of Egypt. Can the Lord take care of them? Can the Lord make water come
out of a rock and follow them? Can He? Can God send manna out
of heaven? Can He send quail? Can He keep
their shoes from wearing out for 40 years? Can He do that?
Can He guide them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night? Can He do that? Can He open up
the Red Sea? Can he cause the Jordan River to back up and stand
up? Let everybody walk across on dry ground? Can he do that?
The Lord said, wherever I send you, you be satisfied where I
put you until I'm ready to move you. You stay right there. Then
he said in verse 10 to 15, and into whatsoever city you enter,
and they receive you not. Go your ways out into the streets
of the same and say, even the very dust of your city, which
cleaveth on you, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding,
be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto
you. But I say unto you that it should be more tolerable.
And here's what, I mean, he's telling them to tell these people this.
I say unto you that it should be more tolerable in that day
of Sodom than for that city. Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto
thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works have
been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have done in you, they
had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And
thou, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down
to hell. There's no greater blessing from Almighty God bestowed upon
unworthy sinners than to have the gospel cross their path and
have that gospel blessed to the salvation of their soul. I'm
going to tell you right now, everybody that's sitting here,
listen, especially me, listen to what I'm saying. There's no
greater blessing that you'll ever have in this life than that
you were able to hear the gospel. No greater blessing. Because
this is the only way, this is the only message that the Spirit
of God is going to bless to the salvation of God's elect. This
is the only message. That's what Paul said in Romans
1, 16. He said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel, the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and
salvation. Now you listen to me. I'm telling
you. I'm telling you the truth. There's no greater blessing that
you'll ever have than to hear the gospel. And to have that
gospel blessed to your heart, to the salvation of your soul.
But there's no greater condemnation, no greater condemnation, than
to hear this gospel, refuse it, and leave this world without
Christ. No greater condemnation. Those that hear the gospel, and
refuse to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall eternally,
eternally. I know you've probably done this
before. I try to think sometimes, try
to think eternally, and try to think, how far, how long is that?
And just think, as far as I can think, and then that ain't even
it. It just keeps going. You just get lost in that trying
to, you can't figure that out. He said, you go, to where I send
you if they don't hear what you're saying. He said, I want you to
wipe the dust off your feet. And you say you've refused the
only hope of life. And we're to tell you what we're
about to tell you. You let them know what they have
refused. Verse 11, he said, you tell them
what they've done. He said in the latter part of
verse 11, notwithstanding, we're wiping the dust, the dust of
your city cleaves on us, we wipe it off against you. Notwithstanding,
be you sure of this. What I want you to understand,
those that are refusing to hear, I want you to understand. The
kingdom of God has come now unto you. The kingdom of heaven, God's
kingdom. The kingdom of His people. God
Almighty has laid it forth. Out before. God's got a people.
God's got a kingdom. He's a king and He's got subjects
and they're His kingdom. The kingdom of God has come now
unto you. And what we're going to do is we're going to leave.
We're going to leave. I told you before, when the Lord
is pleased to reveal Christ to me. I was pastoring a free will
church. I was pastoring a free will church. And in the midst of me pastoring
that free will, that lion false religious free will, man's will,
man's honor, man's glory, Almighty God was pleased to cross my path
with a preacher of the gospel and taught me the gospel. I'd
heard it before, but it didn't mean anything to me. I thought
it was just ridiculous. But when God Almighty was pleased
to do for me what he did for Lydia, then he opened my heart. Then I attended unto the words
that were spoken. Then I began to preach it because
I believed it. I believed it. And I'm telling
you, it was quickly manifest. All of a sudden they realized,
you're saying something different now. And I'd be very, very careful. Take your Bibles and open your
Bible and look at what I'm saying right here. Let me show you.
I'm not telling you something that I'm making up. Look at this. There was a meeting. A very,
very heated meeting. And I knew, I knew, I knew this
is not going to go well. And at the end of the meeting,
this is what I said. I'm leaving. Just a few minutes,
I'm going to walk out of this pulpit and I'm going to walk
down that aisle right there. I'm going to get my wife and my kids and I'm going
to leave. And I'm not coming back. But I'm going to tell you
right now, this is the reason I'm leaving. is because you refuse
the gospel. You despise the Christ of this
gospel. That's why I'm leaving. Does
anybody disagree with me? If you disagree with me, and
I'm not telling the truth, then you better raise your hand, you
better stand up, you better walk out with me, you better do whatever
you wanna do, but I'm telling you, this is why I'm leaving.
And I'm telling you, it's not gonna go well. You tell them. You tell them, whoa, unto you,
Bethsaida, Chorazin, if the mighty works had been done there. It always amazed me of what the
Lord revealed. He wasn't pleased to send the
gospel in power to Sodom, Chorazin, Bethsaida. He wasn't pleased
with it. But he said, if I had, if it had been, they would have believed it.
Why? He said, if I would have been
pleased to send it there, I would have given them faith to believe
it, and it would have remained. It would have remained, you know.
It always amazed me, the Lord not only telling them what couldn't
have, but what could have happened, had He been pleased to do so.
You let them know what they've refused and you tell them that
you're leaving because they will not have the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords to rule over them. They're not going to worship
the God that has sent these preachers to preach. You tell them what
to do. You tell them the consequences of their action. You be honest
with them. You tell them what they've got to face. You tell
them. Be honest with them. I'm telling
you that this is what God said. He said it's going to be more
tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom, Gomorrah, Bethsaida,
Chorazin. It's going to be more tolerable
for them. What does that mean? It means
it's going to be more tolerable for them. Hey, they saw them
in the day of God's judgment. Because of the wickedness of
that city, Almighty God spewed out His wrath of brimstone and
fire out of heaven and burnt them up. Burnt those cities up. Burnt them up. That's not the bad part. That's
not the bad part. All of those that were in that
city that God burned up, in the day of judgment, they're going
to have to now stand before God. And died without Christ. That
they didn't hear of. Because the Lord wasn't pleased
to send the gospel to them. And they're going to have to
hear the judgment of God. And the Lord said, for you that
heard, that heard the gospel, and refused it, it's going to
be more tolerable for them in the day of judgment than it will
be for you. Verse 16, He that heareth you,
heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me, and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. The Apostle Paul was moved by
the Spirit of God to say in 2 Corinthians 5.20, we are ambassadors for
Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you, we exhort
you. In Christ's stead, be you reconciled
to God. Now what's it gonna take for
God to do that? For them to do that? I mean, it's gonna take
God to give them a new heart. It's gonna take God to do something
for them that they can't do for themselves. But if the Lord's
pleased to leave them alone, whose fault is it if they refuse
to bow? Theirs. Theirs. Our message is to be regarded
as the message of God. It's God who speaks. And what
we say to you is in His name, is on His authority, and is to
be received with the respect that is due as a message directly
from God. I'm standing here as an ambassador. And what I'm saying, I'm speaking
to you in Christ's stead. If I'm speaking exactly what
the Lord said, and this is why I'm just going verse by verse,
I want to make sure I say it just exactly the way the Lord
says it. If I'm saying what He said, the
Lord said, those that hear you, hear you with a heart, a new
heart, then they hear me. But he that despises you and
resists what you're saying, he said, he's not despising you,
he's despising me. And he that despises me despises
him that sent me. Someone said, well, that's just
what you're saying. No, it's not just what I'm saying. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
is saying, what the Father's saying. And he said, you refuse
what I'm saying? You refuse what a preacher that
is preaching the gospel is saying? You're refusing, you're despising
God. You think he's going to hold that without any judgment? You think it's going to be okay?
No. No. Verse 17. But they went,
they obviously went, and they did just exactly what the Lord
told them to do. Verse 17 it says, and the 70 returned again
with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us
through thy name. Here the 70 that were commanded,
they went and they had that report, and obviously they were joyful
as the servants of the Lord, to behold the work of the Lord
prosper. And they saw devils being subject
in submission, coming out and obeying the word of the Lord
that they spoke. We were speaking in your name.
And the devils were subject to it. And in response to their
statement concerning the devils being in subjection, the Lord
related to them immediately that there was no surprise to him
that the devils were subject to him. In verse 18 he said unto
them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Here the Lord
declared his power and his authority over Satan himself. Revelation
chapter 12, the account of what he was just talking about is
found in Revelation 12 verses seven to nine. And here's what
the scripture says, that there was war in heaven. Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon fought with
his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place found
anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out. The old
serpent called the devil. Satan, which deceived the whole
world, was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him. So these 70 came back, and they
said, Lord, we're so joyful. Even the devils are in subjection
to us. And the Lord told him, he said,
I saw Satan cast out as lightning. I beheld him as the son of man,
even before his incarnation, before he actually took flesh.
The son himself witnessed Satan's fall from his first estate. Then he began to remind them,
as he reminds us, against any thoughts of worthiness, against
pride. Boy, how easy it is to have the
Lord pleased to bless the Word and God be pleased to raise up
some out of the congregations been sitting there listening
to the Gospel and they're starting to make confession and want to
ask the Lord to save them and they want to be baptized and
then there's different ones and stuff and all of a sudden, if
you're not careful, that one that's preaching Saying, well,
you know, evidently I'm doing a pretty good job. I must be,
you know, be really sensitive to the Lord says unto them, verse
19, behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions
and over all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall by any
means hurt you. I want to remind you all where
the power comes from. The blessing that you're witnessing,
you're so joyful even the devils are subject to us. You didn't
do that by your power. We must ever be taught afresh
that it's the Lord's blessing upon the ministry, His ministry.
And nothing, nothing is gained by our ability or by our wisdom
or our work. He's the one. who keeps us from
danger. He says, nothing's going to hurt
you. That's what he told him. He said, and nothing shall by
any means hurt you. Well, does that mean that we're
not going to suffer any persecution? No, that doesn't mean that at
all. Romans 8, 36 says, it's written, for thy sake we're killed
all the day long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. And speaking of many of God's people that have long
since left this world, Hebrews 11, 37. 38, they were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, tempted, slain with a sword, wandered about in sheepskins,
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world
was not worthy, wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves
of the earth. Yes, the people of God can count
on it. You're going to suffer persecution
in this world. In this world, you're going to
have afflictions and trials and tribulations, but nothing will
hurt your soul. Nothing will be taken from you
concerning life eternal. Nothing's going to hinder the
work of Almighty God that He's caused to prosper through their
preaching. You're not going to get hurt
there, but having told His servants that he saw Satan's fall and
that he was the source of the power. All power had been given
him in heaven and earth that he should give eternal life to
as many as the Father has given him. But then he told them, he
said, that which they should truly be rejoicing in. He says
in verse 20, notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the
devils are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. This blessed book of God's book
of life, that book that it has no entries, no new entries, there's
no new entry. All the names that were ever
going to be in the book of life has always been the book of life.
That book was written before the foundation of the world.
Almighty God has everlastingly known His own. I've loved you
with an everlasting love. I've known you forever. And the Scripture says concerning
the one who absolutely set forth the writing, the entry of all
the names of God's elect, He doesn't change. Malachi 3, 6,
I'm the Lord. I change not. You sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Those that are written in the
Lamb's book of life, He said, I give unto them eternal life,
they shall never perish. But here's the question in closing. Do I have any hope that my name
is written there? I know there's a book. And I
know the names are there. I know they're written in heaven.
And I know that they've always been written in heaven. I know
God doesn't change. There's not gonna be another
one entered in. I can tell you that right now. If my name's
there, it's always been there. But is there any hope? I've looked
at this so many times, but I need to hear it again. John 3.36,
he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the sun. I made a few notes just before
I got up here to preach. He that believeth on the sun,
what believeth in his existence, I've told you before, demons
believe in his existence. They believe that. He that believeth
on the sun, what does it mean? Here's one of the definitions. To give yourself up to to give
yourself up to, to entrust yourself to, to bow, not my will, but
thine be done. To believe on the Son is to not
believe in myself. All that trust in themselves
are going to be cast out. To believe on the son is to believe
his word. My sheep hear my voice. Now listen to this. I know them
and they follow me. They follow me. Saul of Tarsus,
the Lord arrested him on the road to Damascus. Here's what
Saul said after the Lord pleased to reveal himself. Who are you?
I'm Jesus of Nazareth, the one you're persecuting. That's who
I am. I'm the one, sin of God, sin of the Father, to come to
this world. And what did Saul say? Lord, what would you have
me to do? Not what I want to do. Not what
others think I ought to do. Lord, what do you want me to
do? That's all I want to know. What do you want me to do? To
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe that He everlastingly
stood as my surety. To believe that He took upon
Himself the form of sinful flesh and came into this world to save
me, a sinner. Knowing what I am. Knowing I
cannot please God. I can't honor God's law. Lord,
I believe that you as my substitute bore all my guilt. Not only what
I have done and am doing, but will do. And you put it away. I believe that. Lord, what would
you have me to do? Lord, you're the only one I can
trust. I can't trust myself. I don't know what to do. He that
believeth hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son,
His name's written in heaven. I can tell you that right now.
Faith in Christ is the evidence of a man or woman's name written
in heaven. Faith in Christ. Refuse Him,
you've refused God. Trust Him, you trust in God.
And what's it going to cost? What's it going to cost to follow
the Lord? Luke 14, 25-33, I got to thinking
about, men talk about, I love the Lord, I follow the Lord,
I move this, that, and the other. Luke 14, verse 25-33, there went
great multitudes with Him. A lot of them were following
Him. They walked with Him. He turned
and said to them, if any man will come after me, and hate
not his father, his mother, his wife, children, brethren, sisters,
yea, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. What's he saying? Anybody that sees anything else
or anybody else more important than me, you're not my disciple. Whosoever does not bear his cross,
what does that mean? Providentially, wherever the
Lord's put you. That's your cross, that's your burden, wherever
he's put you. And come after me, following
me, wherever I put you. Cannot be my disciple. For which
of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counts
the cost, whether ye have sufficient to finish it. Lest, happily,
after he has laid the foundation, is not able to finish it. All
that behold it began to mock him, saying, this man began to
build, wasn't able to finish. Or what king, going to make war
against another king, sitteth not down first and consulteth
whether he be able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh after
him with 20,000? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions
of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be
of you that forsaketh not all that he hath. He cannot be my disciple. So
here's what I'm going to say. What's it going to cost to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? It's going to cost everything.
Everything. Does that mean I got to give
up everything? I don't know. I don't know. But whatever the
Lord's pleased to do, that's what he's gonna do. I can tell
you that right now. But to be given a willing heart to bow
to the good pleasure of God and to say, Lord, I pray your will
be done. Job says, if he slays me, I'm
gonna trust him. If God kills me, I'm gonna trust
him. That takes a new heart. And then the Lord said in that
21st verse in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and he said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. What a joy to be able to know
that the Lord would be pleased to be truthful with us, and then
give us a heart to hear it, and to bow to it, and to thank him
for it. In that day, I talked to Dave
just a few minutes before I got up here. And I said this, in
that day, and if it was today, if I knew that today, this is
going to be my last day, this is the last time I'm going to
ever preach to you. It may be. And it'd be something if the
Lord were pleased to take me out. And you'd say, I can't believe
it. Marvin was just talking about
that. I don't have a promise for tomorrow. I don't have a
promise for the next second. I could be gone before I know
it, but if I had one more message to preach, what would I preach?
I'd want to preach the gospel, be honest with men, be honest
with women, and tell them, this is the truth, this is the way
it is. I pray God bless this message to our hearts, bless
it to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, for his sake and our
good. Amen.