Would you turn in your Bibles,
if you'd like, to 2 Samuel, Chapter 23? When I've made arrangements
for something, like we shipped a car off this
week to Kentucky for my son. I went and I made all the calls
and did all the research, and it's on its way there. If it
doesn't get there when it's supposed to, All the arrangements I made
were kind of like, I get a little frustrated. When I make arrangements
for something like a wedding, or a family dinner, or a trip
to the store even, maybe planning or bringing about a Sunday service,
and things don't go as I had planned for unseen reasons, well,
needless to say, there's disappointment. Do you not feel the same when
you've made arrangements for something and it just doesn't
work out the way you wanted it to? Get a little disappointed
in things, don't we? Man, if it would just have been
the way I wanted it to, everything would have been just right. Things
don't always go the way we want them to, do they? I think it should, even when
I make a commitment. If I make a promise, sometimes
the circumstances may interfere with my abilities to keep those
promises. Well, same thing as in the world
around us, isn't it? Something may happen. I know you may think
I'm putting a jinx on that truck driver going out there, but yeah,
I don't believe in jinxes. But it's possible. Something
could happen. Car won't be there when it should
be. Wedding didn't go off as way we wanted it to, and family
dinner didn't quite go as well as we'd like it to have gone.
Something got burnt. Circumstances happen. Circumstances
in this world happen. No matter how hard we try to
keep what we promise, sometimes things just happen and promises
cannot be fulfilled. The world we're in is a changing
place, and circumstances guide our actions. But there's one
who works all circumstances out of all things according to His
good pleasure. In Lamentations 3.22, it says
these words, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because His compassions fail not. That's pretty sure, isn't
it? His compassions fail not. His desires, His wants, His plans,
His purposes, as the sovereign of everything, if God could purpose
something, and it could be thwarted, He couldn't be called God. That's
just as plain and simple as it is. Those who worship a God who
is not sovereign, and work everything out according to His purpose,
and accomplish everything that He has purposed, are not worshiping
a God at all. And many of us were right there
in that boat one day. I never went to another religion
like some of you folks may have. But John had the religion of
John. When you don't believe God, you've
got to believe in something, even if it is something false.
God of scriptures does all he desires. He accomplishes all
that he wants. purposes all of his plans and
fulfills them all through the purpose of his own will. Malachi
3, verse 6, we read this, For I am the Lord, he says, I change
not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Isaiah 9, 6
describes this very one this way, For unto us a child is born,
a son is given, and the government That's everything. That's all
things. That's creation. An apple falls
from a tree. Why? Because God has purposed
it to do so. He knows every snowflake that
will ever fall on this earth. He knows every hair on your head,
or on the side of your head, or wherever you might have on
your body. He knows every hair, folks. Do you get the sense that
God is God? The one who created everything
really is God? You don't hear this from pulpits
today. We hear about a God who wants but can't get what he wants
unless somebody else does something for him. We hear about a God
who's waiting for us to make our decisions. That's not the God of Scripture.
Our Lord says, I came to you and made you willing in the day
of my love. Until that day, nobody's willing. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Unto
us a child is born. The government shall be upon
his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He's the very one who rules over
all circumstances. Every power is by his purpose. Every iota is ruled by his thoughts,
his will. Colossians chapter 1 verse 16
makes this very, very clear. Listen to these words. For by
him, by the Lord Jesus, were all things created that are in
heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, dominions, principalities, Our Lord doesn't leave anything
out here, folks. Or powers. The power of a storm. All things that you can consider
be of a power, some people want to call it Mother Nature as a
power. No, it's Jesus Christ the Lord. There was a day when John worshipped
John and it was Lady Luck. Oh, I'm lucky today. No, it's
with Jesus Christ the Lord. All powers, all things were created
by Him and for Him. When He gives a promise, when
He says in His Word, must or shall, we can count on that. When He says, all the Father
giveth Me, that means all. Not some of His children. All
of His children will come to Him. He will lose nothing. Why? Because He's God Almighty
in the flesh. I like that. That gives me assurance. That tells me that my faith is
a faith in Him. Not something that I've conjured
up in my own flesh. Not something that depends on
this flesh that stands before Him. But something that hears
His Word and believes it. That's what it's all about. That's
what makes the difference between God's children and those who
play to be God's children. Those who act like they're the
children of God. You know, that's what Pharisees
were. That's what the Sadducees were. They were those who played religion. Those who, maybe at one time,
Back before they became what they were when they hung the
Lord Jesus on the cross, maybe back before Jacob, maybe back
before they became Israel, they believed the Lord. At one
point, after so many births, they grew apart. Not all of Israel is Israel. No, we believe that when God
gives a promise, when he says must or shall, it shall be. Unlike the world and mankind
that dwells therein, his word is sure. Unlike the world and
mankind, his word is sure. This is the confidence that can
only be had through the God-given gift of faith. Is faith important? Absolutely. Many grace preachers, sometimes,
and I'm guilty of this. I'm just as guilty as anybody
else. Sometimes we put so much emphasis
on grace, and we should, but sometimes we take it in a
way that diminishes the importance of faith. Listen to these words. Is faith important? You bet it
is. This is the confidence that only
can be had through God-given faith. Ephesians 2, verse 8,
For by grace are ye saved... No, it doesn't stop there, does
it? No, there's some words right after that, isn't there? Through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is a gift of God, not of works, lest that man should boast. Why
does it say, not of works, lest that man should boast? Because
faith can be looked at as saving faith all by itself. The unregenerate man can take
what they believe to be faith and put all their trust in that
faith. We are saved by grace. We are
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ in his gracious act to his people,
but he saves us through faith. A lot of people have faith in something,
don't they? Some of us mistakenly put our
faith in our government, don't we? Maybe in our mate, maybe
in our ability to do something. So it can't be faith by itself. Faith becomes a works. Faith
of us is a works. It's a result of God's grace
in his people. That's why he calls it a gift
of God. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest we should boast.
You don't think we would boast about it? If it wasn't for the
grace of God, we absolutely would. Look at the world boasting in
the fact that they see a Jesus in a piece of toast. That sounds foolishness to most
people, but folks, that's the truth about mankind. That's our
nature. That's the nature that we had
before God came to us and tore out that old nature, tore out
that old heart, that old stony heart that wouldn't have him
and gave us a new heart, the new birth. In 2 Corinthians 13, 5 we read
these words, examine yourselves whether you be in what? In grace? No, it says in faith. Examine
yourselves whether you be in faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye
not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except
ye be reprobates. Prove your own selves. I hope
and pray that each and every one of us, when we come to this
table, when we come to remember who our Lord and Savior is, what
He did for us, laying down His life, shedding His blood, paying
for our sins in full, not just the sins that we've committed,
but all of our sins, until the day He takes us out of this world,
when we come to remember that, examine yourself. Am I in the
faith? Am I in the faith according to
Scripture's Not just, do I believe Jesus? Of course. You know, the
devils believe in the Lord Jesus. They do believe in Him, but they
tremble. They don't know Him as grace. They've never experienced
His grace. They don't believe His Word. They've never experienced the
love that God has for His people. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, after
going through and mentioning a couple of those who have died
in faith, the writer writes this in chapter 11, verse 6, he says,
but without faith. Did you catch that? Without faith. Is faith important? Absolutely. You're not going to be saved
without it. It doesn't save you. I want to make that clear. Faith
is not what saves you. Christ is what saves you. But
He does not save outside of giving you faith. You can't come to
the Lord Jesus in truth if He doesn't give you faith to do
so. That cuts the so-called free
will people completely out. You can't say, I came to Christ
by my own walking down into the front of the aisle. I came to
Christ by getting in the baptismal. No, you didn't. We came to Christ
by faith in Him. A God-given faith. Why is this so important? Because
I'm guilty of not stressing to my folks, my loved ones, the
importance of our faith in Him. I stress grace pretty much, don't
you? You all know that. You all know that. But what about
faith, John? It's just as important. All of
God's Word is important. Without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe, must believe,
must have faith, must have trust that He, that Jesus Christ is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Folks, there is one Lord and one faith. That's what it tells
us in Ephesians 4, 3. I'm as confident as I can be
in the flesh that my wife, who loves me greatly, will do everything
in her power to keep her word to me. But I also know that circumstances
in this world change from what I think. Circumstances of this
world can change what she has to do. It may not be in her power
to fulfill some commitment. Therefore, I take this into consideration
as we do with all commitments from someone of this world, that
any commitment that somebody might make with us. But folks,
there's no wavering with God. There's no wavering with Him
at all. Our Lord does not change. His
word is described as the solid rock. So big, so solid that nothing
our little minds can think of can move it. I know, I'm speaking mostly of
my little mind. This is a confidence that every
true child of God of the Most High must be given. Usually not all at once, though
some a little quicker than others, but for the most part, it's a
gradual thing. In Romans chapter 10, verse 17, we read these words,
so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Through the faithful preaching of God's word, a true child of
God, of the living God, will grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. That's what it says in 2 Peter.
Chapter 3, verse 18. More and more we are weaned from
the confidence of this flesh that we walk in. More and more
we are weaned from the visual things that we see of this world.
The more we spend in God's Word, growing in His grace, growing
in the knowledge of Him, the power of Him, the will of Him,
More spending time in His Word, we come to find out that our
faith is of the rock of God's Word. We lose more and more of
the confidence of the flesh. I have witnessed this growth
in many of God's loved ones. Those for whom He died, those
for whom He shed His blood. Those that He declares in Jeremiah
31.3, the Lord hath appeared unto me. of old, saying, yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I draw thee." He says in Genesis 17, 7, and I
will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after
thee and the generations for an everlasting covenant to be
a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. These ones are called
his elect. Peter addresses it very clearly
in 1 Peter 1. Elect. Chosen. Ephesians, they were called predestinated. In the book of John, our Lord
says it just outright, plainly. No misinterpretation. No way
to take it and make some other kind of understanding about it.
He says this very plainly. He says, my sheep hear my voice. And he said that right after
telling some unbelieving Jews, some Pharisees, you're not my
sheep. You believe not because you are
not my sheep. He doesn't say that you're not
my sheep because you don't believe. He says, you're not my sheep. And we say, you don't believe
because you're not my sheep. Here in 2 Samuel, I know I've taken
a long time to get there. Chapter 23, one of these elect,
one of God's sheep has come to the end of his time here on this
world, and I want you to listen to his last words. Here is a
man who is on his deathbed. I can't help but picture my own
mother as she grew weaker and weaker and weaker in those last
days. David couldn't keep warm. Even with all the covers that
he had as the king of Israel, he couldn't keep warm. His body
was dwindling away, withering away. And yet he had a confidence
that only God's children can have. Are you with me in 2 Samuel
chapter 23? Let's begin reading in verse
1. Now these be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse
said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, the spirit of
the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. Spirit of the Lord spake by me. been witnessing to somebody and
God just gave you something to say, and just, oh wow, where
did that come from? I am the worst at remembering. You folks who've known me for
a long time, you know that. How many times have I had to
ask certain people their names that have come to visit us? It
used to be just do that for a reason, because my memory was bad. And
all of a sudden, God would give me something to say, and scripturally,
Where did that come from? How did I remember that? How
did I remember that? The Spirit. The Spirit of God
spake by me and His Word was in my tongue. Verse 3, the God
of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over
men must be just. ruling in the fear of God. And
he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises, even
in the morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing
out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house, says David,
be not so with God. And here's that confidence. Here's
the assurity a dying man had. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
Covenant. Ordered in all things and sure. That's the title of today's message.
Ordered and sure. We think that things come our
way. And I'm as guilty of this as anybody,
folks. I'm right there with you. If
you've ever done this, I'm telling you, I have too. More times than
I want to count. If I would have just done this,
God helped me to get over that. The Lord helped me. I'm sitting here preaching to
some folks that my God is sovereign, aren't I? Well, if He's sovereign,
then whatever happened, happened because He built it and it was
His purpose to happen. Is that not true? Is that not
true? If it's not, then He's not sovereign,
is He? That's where the flesh is weak
comes in. Oh, I wish I would have just
done it differently. God help us to have this confidence,
this confidence right here. Although my house be not so with
God, yet He, yet my Lord, the One who rules over everything,
the One who works everything out for the good of His people
to them that are called, He hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things And sure, for this is all my salvation
and all my desire, although he make it not grow. Speaking of
that in my home. My title and point to be made
this morning is Ordered and Sure. Ordered, that means arranged.
That means put in place. Sure means to be hedged about.
It means to be kept. Kept as such. You know, look
over, turn over to the right there if you would, to Job. It's
the book right before the Psalms. The book of Job. Turn over to
Job chapter 1. Talking about being hedged about. In Job chapter 1, beginning in
verse 7, And the LORD said unto Satan, Now Satan had been going
about in the earth, roaring like a lion. And here in verse 7,
And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan
answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the
earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said
unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? There is none
like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth
God, and escheweth evil. Now listen to these words, folks. Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, Doth Job fear God, for not? Hast thou not made a
hedge a sure thing? Hast thou not made a hedge about
him and about his house, and about all that he hath on every
side? Thou hast blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land." The
devil didn't lie here. I know we think that everything
that comes out of the devil's mouth is deceitfulness, and it
is, because of the way he presents it. He's the master of deceit. He's so good at it, he deceives
himself, thinking that he could take one of God's people away
from him. But he declares it very clearly. Hast thou not put
a hedge up around your servant Job? Yes! Job doesn't have the
power to fight off the devil. You and I don't have the power
to fight off the devil. He's been doing this a lot longer
than us. The devil is making a true accusation. David had come to know through
God's word, as we read in verse 2, that his salvation, it was
of God. It was ordered of God. It was
sure of God. A hedge was built around him. Everything about God's people
is kept by God. It says that in 1 Peter 1, verse
5. We are kept by the power of God. Not by something we have done.
Oh, folks. If God has spoken grace to your
hearts, don't let worse start coming in and messing it up.
It can be painful if you're a child of God. God's not going to let
you fall to it. But it can be painful in the trials that we
have to go through for the Lord to pull us back, to call us back
to Him. But even that is purpose for
His glory, isn't it? As David had been given faith
to trust in His Word, so do all of the saints of God. We believe
that everything about us, everything about the world around us, is
ordered and sure. When the Lord begins to shine
His light in a regenerated heart, a new heart, a heart with the
gift of faith, He usually begins with the soft milk of the Word.
Christ came to save sinners. That's simple. That's easy to
accept. Does God, is He giving you the
faith to believe it? To trust it? To put away whatever
you think you're doing to help him and trust in him alone? Milk is soothed, smooth as silk,
softer than a cloud, whiter than snow. It's easy to digest. We
simply hear his word declared in our spirit and in truth. We hear of who he is. Yeah, we hear of who He is. The God of all creation. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things
were made by Him. Nothing was made without Him.
And the Word was made flesh. Jesus Christ the Lord. Let us plural, make man in our image,
Genesis. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, yet one God.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in Him bodily. We hear
who He is, the triune God. We believe We believe by God-given
faith. This is the importance of faith.
We believe what He says about Himself. We believe the testimony
that God gives us about His Son. We simply hear His Word declared
in our spirit and in truth, and we believe, we hear of His works. And we believe that becoming
flesh, our Lord walked perfectly, establishing a righteousness
for His people, because we have no righteousness of our own.
You can't do anything to establish righteousness for yourself. All
the good works you do are mixed with the flesh, and the flesh
is sin. Without the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you, you can't
do anything good. But I feed the poor. You're not
doing it for the glory of God. But I give to this. I do to this.
I'm a nice person. I'm sweet and humble. But you're
not doing it for the glory of God. Unless Christ dwelleth in
you, everything you do is wicked. The heart is desperately wicked.
Who can know it? That's God's Word. That's God's Word. We hear His
Word declared. We hear of His works. We hear
of who He is. We hear of His sacrifice. The
blood of God was shed on that cross. We hear the shedding of
his blood. We come to the table to remember
the shedding of that blood, to remember the body that was crucified
for our sakes. We hear his word and we hear
that he is and what he's doing this very moment. He's on the
throne of grace right now, being gracious to all of his people,
making intercession for them. As time goes along, our desires
come away from the things of this world. Through trials and
tribulations, we turn away from the things of this world and
we look to our Savior. Our hearts are turned. That's
what repentance is. Repentance is turning from the
things we think we know of this world and turning to the truths
of God. Do you know only God can grant
repentance? We turn from the flesh and we
look to and trust the Everlasting One more and more and more. We sing this song more about
Jesus. Is that just a good tune for you? Oh, I tell you, there's
some rock and roll songs that if you sat back and just listened
to the words, you'd be like, that is the stupidest thing I've
ever heard. But the music's great. I like
the music. Is more about Jesus? Just music
to you? Or do the words mean something
to you? Let me read. Let me read, and
while I'm reading it, would you turn to the 37th Psalm? Psalms
37. Listen to these words as you're
turning. More about Jesus would I know. Does that apply to your
heart? Does football get in the way
on Sunday afternoons? Oh, I can't make it home in time.
to watch the game, and I gotta watch this game. More about Jesus would I know.
More of his grace to others show. More of his saving fullness see,
more of his love who died for me. More about Jesus let me learn,
more of his holy will discern. Spirit of God, my Teacher, be
showing the things of Christ to me. More about Jesus in His
Word, holding communion with my Lord, hearing His voice in
every line, making each faithful say, Mine. More about Jesus on
His throne, riches in glory, all His own, more of His kingdom's
sure increase, more of His coming Prince of Peace, more about His saving fullness
see, more of His love who died for me." Do those words mean
anything to you? Are you with me in the 37th Psalm?
John here? Not there. Look at verse 16. A little that
a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth
the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of
the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall
not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they
shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish,
and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat lambs. They shall
consume, and the smoke shall they consume away. The wicked
borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous showeth mercy
and giveth. For such as be blessed from him
shall inherit the earth. Did you notice that? For such
as be blessed of him, speaking of those who showeth mercy and
giveth, shall inherit the earth, and they shall be cursed of him. and they that be cursed of him
shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he
should not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with
his hand. I have been young, and now I
am old, and yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his
seed begging for bread. He is ever merciful and lendeth,
and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good,
and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loveth judgment,
and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever, but
the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. Now one more, if
you would, turn over to Psalms 25. Turn back to Psalms 25. And we're just about done here. Bear with me just another moment
or two. The 25th Psalm, we read these words beginning at verse
11. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity. Did you
hear that? For thy name's sake. Lord, I
have nothing. I have nothing to give unto thee,
but for thy name's sake, pardon my iniquities, for it is great.
What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach. and the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease,
and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him, and he will show them his coming.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet
out of the net. Turn thee unto me and have mercy
upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my
heart are enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction, my pain,
and forgive all my sin. Consider mine enemies, for they
are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Oh, oh, keep my
soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I
put my trust in thee. When our dear brother David wrote
those words, those final words of his that we read about back
in 2 Samuel, he wrote them with the same faith that you and I
have. Faith in the Jesus Christ, the Lord. Our confidence is in
Him. We have no confidence in this
flesh. And because our confidence is
in Him and not of our flesh, we have full confidence because
it's in what He has done. We know that if we try to mix
anything of ours in with it, it's just going to pollute it.
His is perfect. That's why we sit down and we
rest in Him. He's our Sabbath. Some folks
say, well, you don't observe Christ on the Sabbath. Yes, we
do. Christ Jesus is our Sabbath. We rest in Him. We observe Him every time we
come together. We observe Him every time we
close our eyes in the privacy of our closets and cry out, Lord! The Apostle Paul puts it this
way, our confidence being in Him and Him alone. Over in the
31st verse of Romans chapter 8, we looked at this earlier
this morning, but you just can't wear this Romans chapter 8 out. You just can't wear it out. It
grows more and more and a blessing to me each and
every time I read it. What shall we say then to these
things? If God before us, who can be against us? Do you believe
that? Is that where your trust is?
God, help us to put our trust in that. The man who came to
Christ and said, please, Please heal my son. And the Lord said,
if thou can't believe, if thou can't believe all things. And the man said, Lord, I believe.
Help thou my unbelief. What shall we say then to these
things if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us, how shall he not
with Him also freely give us all things." My salvation, the
salvation of all of God's elect are ordered by Him. Everything needed for our salvation
is provided by Him. It's accomplished by Him. Therefore,
we have a surety. We have faith. Salvation is of
the Lord. I see this salvation not by sight,
but by faith. I see the promise of God, and
I'm sure that He is true. I am assured that He is able.
We'll close with one last thing. Turn over to Matthew chapter
8, if you would, please. Matthew chapter 8. In Matthew
chapter 8, we see an example of faith that was given to someone. God-given faith to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what we read in John
3.16? Whosoever believeth. The world wants to take into
consideration that phrase, God so loved the world. But the truth
of the matter is, it's the whosoever. that whosoever believeth on me
shall have everlasting life. In verse 5 of Matthew chapter
8, when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him
a centurion beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth
at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto
him, I will come and heal him. Okay, I'll come and heal it.
Verse 8, the centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy
that thou shouldest come under my roof. This centurion, this
ruler of an army of men says, I'm not worthy of this man, this
carpenter, who is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He's right.
But how did He know that? Only by the gift of God do we
come to know what we are before Him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come into my room,
but speak the word only. Whoa! This carpenter, all he
has to do is speak the word, and my son will be healed. And
my servant shall be healed, as it says in verse 9. He says,
for I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and
I say to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another come, and
he cometh, and to my servant do this, and he doeth it. And
when Jesus heard it, He marveled. Christ. Christ, the Creator of
everything, marveled. You know what Christ marvels
at? His work. Everything he does
is a marvel. Everything he does is worthy
of glory and grace. He marveled and said unto them
that follow, verily I say unto you, I have not found so great
a faith, no, not in Israel. Is faith important? Absolutely
right it is. The right faith. Many have a
faith in something. Many place their faith in something
that they have done, yet they are still lost in sin. Is my
faith in God and God alone is the question? It says to examine
yourselves. Examine yourselves for what?
Are you doing the right thing? Are you acting the right way?
No, it doesn't say that at all, does it? What does it say? Examine
yourselves. Are you in the faith? Is my faith in Him? Folks, it's so easy for us to
fall into that trap of the world that I'm doing something good.
I don't smoke anymore. You can put anything in that.
I don't do this anymore. You can put anything in that.
Is my faith in God and God alone? Is my faith of God? If it is, It's ordered and it's
sure. Amen.