Now, there's things important
in this life. I concede to that. It's important
that we have jobs. That's important. It's important
that we have reasonable health. That's important. It's important
that we have food on the table. It's important that we are able
to rear our children Good environment. Things of that nature are important.
But the most important thing now, it's important that you
have an education. That's important. But the most
important thing under heaven this morning is this, that you
and I should know whether we believe in God or not. The Holy Spirit here puts believers
by themselves and refers to them or speaks of them as these. T-H-E-S-E. These, a distinction made there. These all died in faith. You see, believers are a class
by themselves even when they die. These all died in faith. Every man has that, maybe the
wrong wording is to look forward to, but every man. Every man is going to die. It
is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment. And
these here, where the distinction is made and observed and noticed
by God, These all died in faith. They died. They died. But they
died in faith. There's a great difference between
those that die in faith and those that die seeking faith. These
died in faith in hope, certainly, of that glorious
resurrection which awaits those that die in faith. Now, there's
many different characteristics in the people of God. That is,
there's some that are strong in the faith and there's some
that's weak in the faith. But they all have faith. They're
alike in that. They all have faith. Some strong
in faith, some weak in faith. But universally, they're alike
in this one respect, they have faith. There's peculiarities
in the ranks and the hosts of the people of God, but they're
universally alike in this aspect, they all have faith. They live
in faith, they continue in faith, and they die in faith. They have
that equally alike. Some are not as strong as others.
Some continuously involved in falling
and getting up again and falling and getting up again. Others
don't fall as many times as these, and they're a little stronger. But they all had faith. They all have faith, and they
all continue in faith, and they all continue to the end, and
I believe that without exception. These all died in faith. You see that there. They had
faith in life, and they had faith in death. And when they came
down to the last mile of the way, when they came down to face
the unseen and unknown as far as humanly speaking is possible
for a man to know. They didn't have to seek for
faith then, they had faith. These all died in faith. That is, when they came down
to die, their kinsmen did not become
alarmed and concerned in regard to their eternal welfare, and
send for religious men to come in on their dying bed and speak
to them in regard to the faith, in order that they might seek
faith to die by. No, that was not necessary because
they had that faith. They had that faith. Now, I'm
not being critical, too critical anyhow, in regard to deathbed
repentance. There have been a lot of strong
things said against deathbed repentance, and I've said a lot
of strong things against it, and really don't have too much
confidence in deathbed repentance. I think the pains and All that is involved with the
strife and difficulty of dying is usually enough to occupy a
man's thoughts without something else. When he comes down to die,
he is not clear in his judgment, and his brain is generally disordered,
if not diseased, and he is scarcely able to think. Not so with these
people. Not so here. They did not, when
they came down to the end of life's journey, they did not
have to seek dying faith. They had dying faith. Now, how can it be said, how
can it be said of myself as well as you that we die in the faith
if it cannot be said of you and it cannot be said of me that
we're living in faith. In other words, how can it be
said of you that you die in faith if it cannot be said of you that
you're living in faith? Now, we've got to answer that
question there. We've got to come to grips with
that. How can it be said of you that you die in faith if it cannot
be said of you that you are not living in faith? Now these things
go together. If you are going to die in faith,
you have got to live in faith. Because a man dies as he lives. He dies as he lives, I am sure
of that. The saints die as well as sinners. David died as well as Saul died. John, who leaned on the bosom
of the Lord Jesus Christ, died as well as Judas Iscariot. It is appointed unto man once
to die. But to die in faith means that
we live in faith. It means, I believe, that we
persevere to the end. I have often heard in days gone
by, and still hear it every once in a while, that a man might be a child of
God one day and be a child of the devil the next day. Now,
I don't know what Scripture that statement is based upon. I have
never found it in the Scriptures. That a man may be a child of
God one day and the next day be a child of the devil. Do you
know of any Scripture that can be used to base a statement like
that upon? I don't know. I do know this,
that our Lord said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. I know that He said, I will put
my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from Me. I know
He said that. And I know that He said that
the righteous shall hold on His way. It's been said, and particularly
about me, it's been said that I teach that a man, once as a
believer, once he becomes a believer, this has been said, I've heard
folks say this, or accuse me of saying things like this, they've
said that I said and teach and emphasize that Once a man is
a believer, then he may live like he wants to live or likes
to live and yet never be lost. Well, I've never said anything
like that, never have taught anything like that, but people
misinterpret what you do say. Now, I've said over and over
and over again that God has given His people eternal life. That's
true. God has given His people eternal
life. He said in John chapter 10, I
give unto my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. Now what God has promised shall
be. I give unto my sheep, I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. I give, I
give it unto them and they shall never perish. I'll put my fear,
my love in their hearts and they shall never depart from me. I
believe that's to be, I believe that's true, I believe that's
true. But now, where I said that many say, or not many but some
have said simply because they've never heard firsthand, have said,
well, this fellow is saying and teaching that once a man becomes
a Christian, once he has become the recipient of the Lord Jesus
Christ as his Lord and his Savior, He can live as he likes to live. Well, there's two sides to that. Number one, number one, that's
true, that's true. When a man is a believer in Christ
Jesus, saved by the grace of God, and has come to the place,
as our brother mentioned as he prayed, comes to the place that he sees
himself as he is, sees himself as God sees him. Not as his neighbors
sees him, or maybe even as his wife or children sees him. But
when he comes to the place, what a fact, what a moment in man's
history when he finally sees himself as God sees him, Helpless
and hopeless and lost before God for the want and lack of
love to Jesus Christ, God's dear Son. A hopeless, helpless, bound
sinner. When he sees himself that way
and the Holy Spirit of God reveals in Him, Jesus Christ, as His
all-sufficient Savior. I say, now listen to me, I say
when a man sees that, when he sees that, he can only see it
and experience that by the Spirit of God, by revelation. Salvation
is not by decision. Now listen to me. Salvation is
not by decision. Salvation is not by choice. Salvation
is by grace. Now, if you can remember that,
that will help you. Salvation is not by decision. I know you
say, well, you're just a little old nobody. Who are you to say that salvation
is not by decision when that's what we hear all of the big preachers
and everyone saying, make your decision. Salvation is not by
decision. Salvation is not by choice. Salvation
is not by chance. Salvation is by revelation. When
it pleased God to reveal Christ in me. That's what the Scriptures
say. When it pleased God to reveal Christ. That's when a man is
saved. Not before. Not before. You say,
well, isn't there a decision? There is a decision. There is
a decision. Man makes a decision. But he
makes the decision because God has first made the decision.
God is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. See what I'm talking about? I'm
saying when that takes place, you say, well, you're destroying
man. No, I'm not destroying man's responsibility. Man is responsible
to repent. The Bible says that God has commanded
all men everywhere to repent. And he's responsible to do something
that he cannot do apart from the work of the Holy Spirit of
God in his heart. Well, what are you saying, preacher?
Well, I'm saying this. Where it's said that a man who is a
believer and the recipient of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he
has experienced Christ in his heart as his Lord and his Savior,
then he can live as he likes. I say there's two aspects to
that. Number one, That's true, he can
live as he likes, because what his likes and what his desires
are have been changed. See? If any man be in Christ,
He is a new creature. He's a new creation. If a man's
really saved, that's what that Scripture is saying in the book
of 1 Corinthians. If a man is really saved. Now, I just made
a little old five-cent profession sometime in vacation Bible school. I remember one time years ago,
they had a film in one of the churches, and I was involved
in it, and they showed the film, and at the close of the film,
some fellow who was He'd come all over the country showing
this film, was there popping his gum and talking about going
to the picture show and all that. When it got through, then he
got up and said, well, if there's anyone here that would like to
believe in the Lord Jesus, would you come forward? And I remember
two little boys come forward and made a decision. They made
a decision. I know the two boys right now. They're growing men now. They
are between 35 and 40 years old right now, and I know them, and
I know that they are not persevering to the end, but they made a little
old decision back there. They made a little old 5 cent
decision back there about 30 years ago. They decided for Christ. That's not what I'm talking about.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people that
are genuinely saying, if any man be in Christ, if he's in
Christ, if Christ is in him, then he's a new creation. God
has created something new. God has infused in his soul his
own nature, his own person, and all things become new. He's a
different person, see? And he lives according to his
likes, or according to his desire. What is his desire now after
he has become the recipient of the Son of God? Think of it. Think of it. A man has God in
him. God over all and above all and
there is none beside him. The ruler of the waves, the creator
of all things. He is the recipient of God himself. And I'll tell you, he'll live
as he likes. Say, well, that preacher says,
well, if a man's saved, he can live as he likes. That's right.
He can live as he likes. How does he like? That's the
question. How does he like? How does he
like? How does he desire to live? He
desires to live according to his nature, new nature. I know that he's got an old nature
there and there's a war fire. I know that. But how does he
desire to live? He desires to glorify Him who
rescued Him. He desires to live for the glory
of Him who came where He was and loosed Him from the bondage
of sin and paid His debt and set Him free. He desires to live
for the glory of God Almighty. And I'm saying that when that
happens, when that happens, from that point until the time that
he dies, he continues in the faith. That's what I'm saying.
And I can find no scripture in the Bible for a basis of that
statement, Darrell, that says that you're a child of God one
day and a child of the devil the next day. No sir, I can't
find it. I believe that when God saves
a man, what God promises to do, who am I to stand up here and
try to convince somebody of the truth of the Scriptures? God
has promised. He said, I'll give unto them
eternal life and they shall never perish. Now that's enough for
me. If nothing more is said on the subject, that's enough right
there. I give unto them. God gives unto His people. He promised that. My soul brethren,
I hope you can see what I'm talking about. He promised His people
eternal life. And they shall never perish. His people. my love, my Holy Spirit into
their hearts, and they shall not depart from me." It's not
saying that they won't sin, but they won't sin fatally. See? They won't sin fatally. If that's not so, if what I'm
saying is not so this morning, you've got no hope. You've got
no hope. If God is not able, well, all
right. What's this mean where it says,
1 Peter 1, verse number 5, listen to this verse. He's talking here to the strangers
scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Phoenicia. That is who he is talking to.
He is talking to strangers. I read over to you, I read over
here in Hebrews 11 verse 13 where it says that these, these all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, were persuaded of them, embraced them, and confessed
that they were what? Strangers. Now I think Peter
is writing to the strangers. And He calls them the elect.
Verse number 2. He calls them elect. How did
they get to be? Did they choose themselves? Did
they choose themselves? These people that God calls the
elect, how did they become the elect? That's what I want to
know. Well, while I'm on that, turn
back with me to the book of Ephesians one time, and then I'll get on
with it. One time. How did they get to be the elect?
If we can find that out, it will solve a lot of problems. Untie
a lot of knots. Ephesians chapter 1 verse number
4. Listen to this now. This is how they got to be the
elect. According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Alright? You say, well, don't
stop now. Keep on going. Keep on going.
Well, I intend to. I want you to see the rest of
it. That's what I've been saying. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. All things have passed away.
Behold, all things become new. I'm saying that it cannot be
said of you that you died in the faith if it cannot be said
of you that you lived in the faith. Alright, listen to this. He chose us according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
or predetermined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself. Why? according to the good pleasure
of His will, for what reason? To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace. And brethren, I
say that when we see that, When we come to the understanding
of that, there will be some persevering on our part. We shall not only,
will it be said of us that he died in the faith, but it will
also be said of us that he continued in the faith. You cannot, now
listen to me now, you cannot die in the faith unless you continue
in the faith. You cannot die in the faith unless
you live in the faith. That's all there are to it. And
I'm not trying to be harsh, stern, a smart aleck, or anything like
that. I'm trying to get us to see the truth on this great and
glorious truth, these all died in faith." All right, over here
in 1 Peter then again, look now. These strangers, he wrote to
these strangers scattered throughout these various places. Verse number
2 says, "...elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father." What does that mean, the foreknowledge of God the
Father? Does that foreknowledge mean that God foreseen some inherent
goodness in you or in me, or some good thing that I purpose
to do? And because of some good thing
that I purpose to do, or some inherent goodness in me, therefore,
He said, I choose Him. Now that's not what it means.
Now that's what a lot of people like to think that it means.
I remember one time a lady told me, she said, well, I think the
reason because God saved you was because you had some religious
people in your family. No, that's not it. Listen, that
same book of Ephesians, you know, now let me show you this one
more time and then we'll get back to it. But I want us to
see these. In Ephesians chapter 2, listen to this now, there
was no inherent goodness in it, that double for knowledge is.
And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in
sins. When God came along by the Word
and through the Spirit and quickened us from that dead condition and
state that we were in, dead towards God, We were dead in trespasses
and in sins, and this describes us, wherein in times past we
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air and the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as Others! See that? Alright? Elect according to strangers,
elect according to the foreknowledge of God. You see, God did not
foresee any goodness in us. There was no goodness in us.
We were nothing but rebels. We'd already rebelled against
God, committed treason. We'd already said, well, I'll
push God off of the throne and I'll climb up there and be the
captain of my own ship and determine my own destiny. I'll be like
God. Push Him off. Dead in trespasses and in sins,
rebels against God. That's what we were. Just recipients
of the eternal wrath of God, but for the grace of God. What
have I said many times? We ought to have been in hell.
I don't preach to no good people. I preach to people that ought
to have been in hell. You ought to have been in hell years ago.
If you're not in hell, then it's by the grace of God. If you and
I are not in hell right now, it's by the grace of God. No
other reason. No other reason. Because we deserve to go there.
Alright, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Well, go on
down to verse number 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again." Who hath begotten us? Did we begot
ourselves? No. It says, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His
abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you." Now, all of this which Christ did in our
behalf, He said, is reserved in heaven for somebody. for somebody. It's there for somebody. In other
words, there's no empty seats in heaven. That is, you know,
I hear the evangelist trying to work upon the emotions of
the hearers and say, well, now, People are going, God's disappointed.
God's disappointed. The Lord Jesus Christ is disappointed. The Holy Spirit's disappointed.
They all tried to do something, but they couldn't do it. You
wouldn't let them have their way, and your seat is there around
the great banquet hall of God, and your seat is there, and your
name's on it, but there's a vacancy there. You wouldn't let God have
His way. You wouldn't let God have. If
that's so, If that's so, how could God say that all the benefits
which a believer has in Christ is reserved in heaven for him? And that word reserved means
kept, K-E-P-T. Alright, this is the verse I
wanted you to see. kept by the power of God, not
apart from faith, but through faith, unto salvation, ready
to be revealed at the last time. Well, I hope I've made myself
clear on that. It means this, brethren, when
we say that a man may live as he likes to live, after he's
been saved, what I'm saying is that his appetites have been
changed, his desires have been changed, and now he desires to
live for the glory of God, and he continues in the faith. That's
all I'm saying. Nothing more. And nothing less. I'm saying that when God saves
a man, He saves him. He saves him, and that man's
changed. He's changed. He's changed. Now
he desires to live for God. So when I say that when a man
is the recipient of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he can live
as he likes, it all sums up in the two words, or the three words,
as he likes. What does he like to do? What
does he like to do? He likes to please God. He likes
to serve God. He likes to glorify God. And
that will be the underlying theme of his life. That will be the
motivation for that which he does. He doesn't come to church
because he has to come to church. He doesn't give up his money
because he has to give it. He has not quit swearing because
he has to quit swearing. He hasn't quit his ungodly acts
because he has to. He does so because he's been
changed and because the love of God and has been shivered
abroad in his heart, and he knows these things, will reproach the
name of his blessed Master, and he doesn't want to reproach the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to live in such a fashion,
in such a manner, that through his conversation and his behavior,
his conduct, all of it will tend to reflect the glory of God. Let me ask you, brethren, how
is this world going to see any of the grace of God unless it
sees it in you? That's what I'm talking about.
And I'm saying that men who are the recipients of God's grace
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, they've been changed.
And brethren, they're going to walk different and they're going
to talk different. And they're going to persevere
unto the end. These people here that died in
faith, died in faith because they lived in faith. That's what
I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Well,
it means that they shall be kept from sinning fatally, fatally, fatally. They shall sin, but they shall
not sin fatally. They shall persevere. They shall
persevere. Not 100 percent! They're not
perfect. They're not perfect. This business,
I read one time where a fellow said that he was criticizing
the preacher and the church, and he said, well, he wrote the
fellow a letter. He said, I don't believe in what
you're saying. You're saying that all men are going to die.
He said, I'm not going to die. He said, a man who's a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ shall not die. Well, now, that's not
right. We're going to die. We're going
to die. We're going to die. We're going
to die. Unless the Lord comes back for us, we're going to die.
We're going to die. But while we live, we must persevere
in love and in holiness and we'll be kept by the power of God. kept by the power of God through
faith, not apart from faith, not in spite of faith, but through
faith. God has promised eternal life
to some people. And to those people that become
the recipient of it, they shall continue in the faith. unto the end. They'll live in
the faith and they'll die in the faith. Alright, I want to
mention just a few things and then I'll quit here this morning.
Just a few things about this that I see in these verses that
I've read to you here, 13, 14, 15, and 16. Well, I said number
one is this, from the text I think that this is clear, that there's
a distinction made here between those who die in the faith and
those who do not. For it says, these all died in
faith. out of the mass of humanity.
We said here the other night how there's about, what, three
billion people in the world? About three or four billion people
in the world, give or take a hundred thousand or so. Several billion
people in the world that comprises this mass of humanity. Just think
if you could visualize for a second the Oh, the awful mass of humanity
if they were all put in one place. Several billion people, from
every tribe, every tongue, from the New Guineas, from Africa,
from all of Europe, from China, from all the Far East, from down
under in Austria, all over, was brought in one place and all
together at one time. and you was on a raised platform
and could look out through and see that sea of human faces. Boy, wouldn't that be a spectacle? That certainly would be a sight. That would be a sight. I say,
out of the mass of humanity, there are some, get me now, there
are some but not many who die in the faith. Why do you say
that, preacher? I say that I've already said
it, but I'll say it again. Because a man cannot die in the
faith unless he lives in the faith. Unless he lives in the
faith. Can't do it. Can't do it. If you don't live in the faith,
you can't die in the faith. If you die in the faith, because
you lived in the faith. And out of this mass of humanity,
there are some, but not many, who died. Not many in compared
to the 3 or 4 billion people. There's not many. All right,
second, this distinction is shown by the way that they lived. They died in faith. They died as they lived. They
persevered in faith unto the end of the earthly life. They
not only started in the faith, but they finished. Lots of starters. There are lots of little decisions
and professions, and I raised my hand. I don't want to go to
hell. No one does. No one wants to
go to hell. If hell is what the Bible says
it is, then I'm sure that it is. I know that it is. No one
in his right mind would look in the face of the prophet of
God and say, I want to go to hell and be tormented and punished
all throughout eternity. But if someone offered them a
proposition whereby they could escape this, don't you think
they'd take it? Why, certainly, and that's what
the majority of preaching is in our day. The preacher offers
a proposition to his hearers. You don't want to go to hell,
do you? No, I don't want to. Well, why don't you accept Jesus?
He's kind of an insurance policy to keep you from going to hell.
And so, you see, the Lord Jesus Christ is secondary. The only
reason why they're interested in God or eternity is to keep
out of hell. And they made a little old profession
of faith, and they live and dote on that profession of faith,
and when they come down to die, why, it doesn't make any difference
if they've neglected the graces of God, neglected the things
of God all of their lifetime. They always go back. They always
go back to that little church. or to that little camp meeting,
or to that place they had the revival, and they can remember
vividly in their minds that the place that they knelt at the
altar, and the time that they claimed the victory, the time
they made the decision. And that's it! That's it, right
there. That's their salvation. That's their salvation. They
haven't lived in the faith. but they think they're going
to die in the faith because they made a decision. I told you here,
let me tell you again, I said this, I think it's a true statement.
If a man has to go back, now follow me carefully here, if
any one of us has to go back thirty years for some evidence
that we're Christians, get me now, If we've got to go back
thirty years ago and grab some evidence up from thirty years
back to assure us that we're Christians today, we're thirty
years too late. If you have to go back to last
week to find some evidence that you're a child of God, you're
a week too late. It's right now. It's not thirty
years ago, two weeks ago, but it's right now. That's what I'm
talking about. You see, brethren, the faith
in which they died, these people, these, T-H-E-S-E, was a faith
that God would perform His promises for they had not received them
at the time of their death. I think that's what it's saying.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises. But they died in a faith, believing
that God would perform that which He promised. I'll tell you, that's
tough, isn't it? They didn't have the written
Word of God like you and I've got right here, where it says
Christ died for sinners. Well, they don't have nothing
like that to fall back upon. No, sir. Like you and I. The promises of God as came through
the prophets. Notice over here in the first
chapter of the book of Hebrews. I'll read a verse to you that
is familiar with you. I've read it to you many times.
God who at sundry times in divers manners spake in times past unto
the fathers by the prophets. That's how He spake back then.
to men through prophets. But it has in these last days
spoken unto us by a Son. He spoke to these brethren by
the prophets, by the prophets. And they, not having received
the promises that the prophets conveyed to them under the inspiration
of God, they believed anyhow, and trusted anyhow, and persevered,
and persevered. Listen, let me show you here
something that it says about these fellas. Why, it says that,
what shall I say? What shall I say more? For the
time would fail me to tell you of Gideon and Barak and of Samson
and David and Samuel and Olam. Verse 33, Who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant
in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received
their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection,
and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,
moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed
asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword. They
wandered about in sheepskins, goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,
tormented. You see what I'm talking about?
These people died in the faith, having not received the promises. but knew beyond a shadow of a
doubt that God would fulfill these promises and all these
hardships. They didn't quit. They didn't
quit. It says of these people, of whom
the world was not worthy. The world was not worthy of who?
Of these people that he's talking about in verse 13. These all
died in faith. The world was not worthy of them.
They lived in the faith, they continued in the faith, they
persevered in the faith. He that holdeth out unto the
end. That's what it means. Not those
that started, but those that continued. In spite of all the
hell that the devil could conjure up and all the disappointments
and heartaches of this world. All of the trying and difficult
times they had in this world. They kept their heads above water. They kept looking. They kept
looking. Their eyes was trained upon Him. They knew that God had sent Him.
They didn't quit. They didn't quit. They said,
well, things are getting tough for me. I think I'll just quit.
That's not worth it. I wish I hadn't started. They
might have said all them things, and I'm sure they did. I've said
them a time or two, haven't you? I've quit a thousand times. And
I guess if it wasn't for God, I would quit. It says here, it
says, if they was mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
They could have returned, but they didn't. I could have went
back, but I didn't. I made a thousand mistakes. Make
a thousand more. And I've said I've quit 10,000
times and will say it 10,000 more, but I haven't quit. I haven't
quit. Still got my head above water. Still got your head above water.
That's what I'm talking about. Well, folks say, well, preacher,
I think what you say, there's a semblance of truth there. I
think that is. But I have so much trouble. I
have so much trouble. You haven't got no trouble like
the trouble he had, but you're going to have trouble. In this
world, ye shall have tribulations. You say, I know, but boy, my
body's been racked with pain. Well, why not? A fellow I know, a good friend
of mine, has been sick the last two or three weeks. Been sick. Been hurting. I mean hurting.
Been a preacher, probably the best preacher, probably the best
preacher in the continent today. Probably. You fellas know who
he is. Probably the best preacher. I don't know of a fella that
God has used more mightily than this fella. Don't know of anybody.
And I don't know of anyone that I'd rather listen to than this
fella. Don't know of a one. But I'll tell you, he has had
some trouble in the last two or three weeks. He said, I have
experienced pain in my legs and in my hips like I've never experienced
in my fifty-some years. But he's still holding on. Got
a letter from him Saturday. He said, well, I'm going to preach.
I'm going to preach. They've got about 400 and some
people to preach to. Sunday morning, he said, I'm
going to preach in the high chair. They said, they've got that television
program on Tuesday night. And he said, I'm going down there
and preach on that television. Make that tape. Continue. Well, we're not, you know, folks
say, well, What you're saying is true, but I have so much trouble
and difficulty. I know it. We all have troubles,
and heartaches, and problems, and pain, and disappointments,
and discouragements, and we all have that. It's rare that one
man can stand up and say, My quiver's full, preacher. Oh, I have more. I have more than my cook runneth
over. My wife's a believer and faithful
and she loves me. And all of my children are faithful
and they love me. And all of my grandfather and
all of this. I have no trouble. It's rare
that you can... I'm not saying that there's not
some like that. But it's rare. It's rare. In this world, in
this world, while you're in this world, you have trouble and trials
and tribulations, you'll have it. But be of good cheer, Pat. I have overcome the world. Well,
I'm going to quit here just a second. Let me read a few of these things
to you here. The faith in which they died was a faith. that God
would perform His promises, for they had not received these promises
at the time of their death. Now, they had not yet received
these promises, yet God caused them to see these promises afar
off. Now, in a sense, we have not
received the promises, literally, but we have been enlightened
to see the fulfillment of these promises in the Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen Him by faith. We've
heard Him by the ears of faith. And we've seen Him. No man has
seen God at any time and is still alive. Moses said, show me thy
glory. And God said, well, I'd kill
you if I did. I can't show you my glory, Moses, it'd just kill
you. I'll tell you what I will do though, Moses, I'll hide you
back here in the cleft of the rock, and I'll let you see my
hinder parts as my glory passes by. But by the eyes of faith,
by the eyes of faith we've seen Him whom to know is life eternal,
we've seen Him. We've seen Him, see? That's what
I'm talking about. Well, on the account of his having
given them to see the fulfillment of these promises afar off, God
caused them to be persuaded of them. See if it doesn't say that.
Listen, it says, they haven't received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, dimly, dimly, They were looking through a glass
darkly, but they had seen Him afar off, and they were persuaded
of them. That is, they were convinced
that God would do what He said He would do. And so because they
had seen Him afar off, they embraced Him. That is, they had confidence
in Him. They believed Him and just took
Him to themselves. And because of this, you know
what they said? They confessed! Not just with
their lips, but they confessed with their lives that they were
what? Strangers. They're strangers. We're strangers here. God fills
our vision. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
captain. All we're concerned about is
the glory of God. That is first and foremost I
said to you here. Now, I don't want to be misunderstood
here. We're to be concerned about our
children and all of that and about our jobs. If a man doesn't
provide for his own family, He's worse than an infidel if he doesn't
provide for his children, if he doesn't work. If a man doesn't
work, why? He can't eat. If he doesn't work,
he can't eat. But our first and foremost interest
is what? The glory of God the Lord Jesus
Christ. We confess that we're not of
this world. We're in the world. We're in
the world. We're part of it in a sense,
but then in another sense, we're not part of it. I want our citizenship,
our conversation, our citizenship is in heaven. That's where we're
at, in heaven. Seated. How are we in heaven,
preacher? Well, we're seated in Christ.
That's where we're at. You say there's a man in glory.
That's right, there's a man in glory. A man in glory whose name
is Christ Jesus, he's on the right hand of God, and every
believer is there in Christ, seated on God's right hand in
Christ. See? My interest is in Him. I'm in this world. I'm in this
world. But my chief aim is for the glory
of Him in whom I am interested. to the extent that he is my life. My life is hid in God. Well,
I'm going to quit now. Listen, they didn't quietly embrace
these things as kind of a secret believer, but rather they confessed
them with their lips. and their lives, declaring themselves
to be strangers on earth, and they found themselves to be out
of step with the people and the things of this world about them.
And this world treated them not as a bunch of oddballs or because
they wore a strange hat. We have religious sects in our
day like the Mennonites and some more of them that all of them
has to have a beard, straight beard, comes way down here and
cut off square. Every man's got that beard. And
then there's another sect that every one of them has a round
black hat. And they're known by the uniform that they wear.
And people see them. People see them and say, well,
he's a Mennonite. Not because he lives such a godly life, and
I'm not saying that they don't, but because of their uniform.
because of their religious guard. The Roman Catholic priest, he
has a religious guard that identifies him as a religious man. These
fellas that I'm talking about, brethren, they confessed that
they were strangers by their lips and their lives, not by
a uniform, but because of their strong belief and their devotion
and their following after the Lord Jesus Christ. And they were
first called Christians at Antioch because they were Christ-like.
They acted like the Lord Jesus Christ. And the world said, well,
them people, they just act like Jesus Christ. They have the same
attitude that He's got. They manifest a love like He
did. And they called them Christians.
Well, that's the reason the world... Well, alright, you see what I'm
talking about. These died in faith. The gist
of everything that I've said thus far and I'll quit is this.
You cannot die in faith unless you live in faith. And if you
die in faith, it's because you lived in faith. They go hand
in hand. God help us. God help us to see
what I'm talking about. I know we'll not understand it
unless God makes it known to our hearts, stresses upon us
the glorious importance. And I said the other day, let
me say one more time, you know, It's a blessed, blessed, blessed
privilege, I think, to come to church. That's a privilege. But
it's a privilege. It's a privilege to do anything
for God. That's a privilege. You're a
worm of the dust, and I'm a worm of the dust. There's no good
thing about us. Not anything about us that would entice God. to come in our direction. Not
a single solitary thing. Now, this is what I'm saying
by way of example. Alright, here's a young fella.
Here's a young fella and he sees a pretty girl. He sees that girl,
she's pretty. I mean her eyes just sparkle
and her lips are red and her cheeks are rosy and her hair
is pretty and she dresses nice. And he looks at her and he is
attached and affected by her physical being and her personality. He can't see anything inside
her he doesn't know, but he's attracted to her. And so he does
his dead level best to make an impression upon her. What I'm
saying is this, what a privilege it is to serve God when we know
the truth that there was nothing about us that would attract God
to us. Nothing. Nothing. Just the opposite. We are in His sight apart from
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. What? Fear not,
thou worm, Jacob. We're worms. Worms of the dust. No good thing in it. Paul said,
I know that in me. That's what he said. I know that
in me. Good things. That's what he said.
That was his testimony. Greatest Christian that ever
lived. Greatest preacher that ever lived. A man that wrote
the biggest part of the Bible. That's what he said about himself.
Yet very few people have seen this revelation that Paul had
or experienced it. Paul said, I know in me, in my
body of flesh dwelleth no good things. not anything good about
me that would attract God to me. Paul said, I am what I am
by the grace of God. God bless you.