I believe the pastor of Madisonville
Church there in Madisonville, Kentucky that David Edmondson
is now the pastor of, the church where our pastor Gene Harmon
and his wife Judy attend. And I've read so many good things
from him. I believe this article goes right along with today's
message, why that is preposterous. The greatest absurdity in all
the world is for men and women to call a being God and then
say that he cannot and does not do as he pleases. This is more
ridiculous than saying that water is not wet. Water, by its very
nature, is a liquid wet. Almighty God, by his very nature,
is absolutely sovereign, independent, and free. He can and does do
as he pleases. Our God, said the psalmist, is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. That's in Psalms 115.3. And again,
whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in
earth, and in the seas, and all deep places. That's in 135.6. He doth according to his will,
says Daniel the prophet. in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, What doest thou? That's in Daniel 4.35. What his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. Job 23.13. He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. Ephesians 1.11. And only
a lost, unregenerate person would ever entertain a thought to the
contrary. In fact, all thoughts to the
contrary are nothing less than blasphemy. The God of the Bible
is God indeed. His people call Him God because
He is God. Listen to the words of Spurgeon.
I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam
does not move an atom more or less than God wishes. the very
particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat as it orbit
as well as the sun in the heavens. The shape of the hand of the
winnower is steered as surely as the stars in their course.
that the creeping of an insect over a rosebud is as much fixed
as the march of a devastating pestilence and the fall of leaves
from the popular is as fully ordained as the tumbling avalanche. He who believes in God must believe
this truth. There is no standing between,
point between this and atheism. There's no halfway between an
almighty God who works all things according to the good pleasure
of His will and no God at all. Maurice Montgomery. I say amen
to that. I'd like to ask you to turn to the 17th chapter of
the book of Acts, if you would please. If I would need anything of this
earth, if there was one thing, one thing that I need the most,
it's encouragement in this battle that I fight between my flesh,
where there dwelleth no good thing, and my spirit, where my Savior
dwells. Not only does He dwell there,
He washes me. He washes my sins away. Bringing
me to sit in heavenly places, as it says in Ephesians. Renewing
my spirit day by day. Blessed Redeemer, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of heaven
divine. We've been blessed to live in
this country, in this time. When men and women are allowed
to worship the way they will, without persecution, don't count on it for much longer. We live here without interference
from religious leaders. I know the leaders of our government
would like to intercede a little more than they do, but our laws
of freedom protect us from that, thankfully, for now. That has not always been the
case, though, has it? We were speaking about the Reformations
and the time of history when the Catholic Church was going
all over the world persecuting everybody that would not convert
to Catholicism. It's not always been the time
to have this peace that you and I enjoy. Man has used the power of their
religion to control others for a millennia, to build up power
over the people, and a time has not changed. The nature of men
has not changed. They still seek power today. Many places around this world,
one religion or another, have great power. And the leaders
of whatever religion that is dominate in that area. Try as
any natural man would to hold their power over the people,
ruling them as it were, persecuting them. If another religion was
to raise up, giving them threat or power over the leaders that
those leaders have, then time has not changed the nature of
men. We have not become more sophisticated today than we were
before. We have not become more sophisticated
in our way of thought. We have not evolved to a higher
level of thinking. There are those whose only thought
is this, how can I get more power? And it's in today's world today
just as it was then. The very reason the religious
leaders of the Jews stirred up the people to turn against our Lord and
Savior was because our Lord and Savior threatens the power of
men. The very reason we speak out
against free will doctrine is because free will doctrine is the exact opposite of what
God teaches in His Word. And when we talk about that or
speak up about it, people get angry about it. They will not
tolerate you taking their free will away from them. I'll not
have that man rule over me is what they're saying. And it's
exactly what you and I had said at one time also. It's our nature
to seek more power. In today's world, just as there
has always been, and persecution of the true saints of God in
this country may not be far off. I ask myself this question, will
I crumble? Will I crumble at the threat
of harm? Will I stumble at the threat
of persecution? Will I hide if the road gets
rough? Look with me here in the book
of Acts chapter 17 and beginning at verse 1. Now when they had passed through
Amphilipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where was
a synagogue of the Jews. Now imagine if you will going
into a local Mormon temple and begin declaring The sovereign,
the free sovereign grace of Christ. Can you imagine doing that? You
know, that's why Jonah ran. The Ninevites were not nice people.
I've described it this way before. It'd be like going into a Hell's
Angels bar and start talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
It probably wouldn't turn out really well for you. I think
the same thing would kind of go along if you did that to a
Mormon church, or a Catholic church, or a Seventh-day Adventist
church, Imagine what it would be like
to go into a temple and begin declaring, our Lord's free and
sovereign grace. Or what about a mosque? Look
what they do when they think you're mocking them with a cartoon.
They go crazy and start burning stuff, don't they? What if you went in when they
were having their prayer time? Or what about a Catholic building? while they're holding their so-called
mass. Can you imagine what an uproar that would cause? Look
at verses 2 and 3. Acts chapter 17, verses 2 and
3, And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three
Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening
and alleging that Christ's must needs have suffered, and risen
again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto
you, is Christ." Notice Paul did not reason with the five
points of Calvinism. He didn't go in there and say,
let me tell you how everybody's depraved, let me tell you about Total depravity, let me tell
you about unconditional election, let me tell you about limited
atonement, let me tell you about irresistible grace, let me tell
you about perseverance in the saints. No. That's not what he
did, is it? That's not what the scripture
tells us there. Nor did he reason with them the details of eschatology. End times. Let me tell you about
how this is the end times here today. If we look at the Scriptures
and we add 7 plus 7, it comes to 144, and you figure that out,
next week is going to be the final day everybody lives. No,
you can go in and argue about that. No, the subject was Jesus Christ,
the Messiah. The one whose shoulders rested
on whose shoulders all the governments rest upon. All of creation rests
upon this one. The very one who is ruling over
all it is. We read in Isaiah 9, 6, For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government,
all the governments, The government of this world, the rulings of
this world, from the beginning of time to the end of time and
beyond, are on His shoulders. And His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. This Jesus, this One that He
calls the Messiah, the Christ, is the One that Peter came talking
about. Now, the Jewish people, To them there is no higher authority
than this word. They use the word this way, Yahweh. Have you ever heard that one? They sought a one who would once
again deliver them from the bondage of Roman rule. That's what they
were under at that time. Romans ruled the world at that
time. And oh, how they thought about
that time when, in the writings, it showed the Lord God Almighty
delivering the people of Israel out of Egypt, out of their bondage
there. Oh, will it do it again? Will God come back and do it
again now? That's what eschatology is all
about. It's teaching about how God's
going to come back and live on this earth for a thousand years,
ruling in some temple over in Israel. Hogwash. Our God rules
right now. The God of Scripture is not giving
up His rule. He rules now. Look at verse 4. And some of
them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout
Greeks, and a great multitude, and of the chief women not a
few. The word of God does not go out void. Like a two-edged
sword, it will cut some to salvation, and others through damnation.
There was a time when it cut to me as damnation. When John
was dead in trespasses and sins, he walked about this world just
as every one of us here have, not having anything to do with
God, not caring about the Word of God. I'd heard about it. I'd
heard it preached. I grew up under somebody talking
about a Jesus. I could care less, though. The Word of God at that time
cut unto damnation, but thank God, but God, for His great love
wherewith He comes to us and gives us life, and the sword
begins to cut to salvation. Notice the cut of the sword here
in verses 5-8. But the Jews which believed not
moved with envy." That's jealousy. They were moved by the power
of God, the power of our Lord, taking people away from their
authority. An authority that they don't
really even have, but they thought they did. "...moved with envy, took unto
them certain..." Now look what they did. Certain lewd fellows. That would be like a preacher
going out of his church and getting a bunch of gang members, bloodthirsty gang
members to come and do some work for him. Because of their envy over what
God was doing in the hearts of His people, these leaders went
out and got lewd fellows of baser sort and gathered a company and
set all the city on an uproar. Let's raise up the city against
this one who's teaching about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
We can't have that. It's taking our power away from
us. We can't have you taking away our free will. That's my
power over me. I got a little carried away with
that Bible study this morning. I've had five messages on my
mind since Wednesday. So they might be bleeding just
a little bit together, folks, for you to have been here for
Bible study. These religious leaders caused an uproar and assaulted
the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not,
they drew Jason and certain brethren, verse 6, unto the rulers of the
city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down,
and are come hither also." These ones who turned the world upside
down, all they're doing is preaching Christ, They haven't done anything
that takes God to work the power of His Word into people's hearts.
They're not even giving the credit to the right ones. They're blaming
these guys, and it wasn't them at all. They just preached Christ,
and Christ opened the hearts of His people. Many of them,
some of them believed and consorted with Paul as it says in verse
4. And when they had found him not, they drew Jason, certain
brethren under the rulers of the right city, crying, These
that have turned the world upside down and come hither, whom Jason
hath received, verse 7, and these all do contrary to the decrees
of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people
and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. You know what it says in John
3 verse 19? We know what 16 says, right?
Whosoever believeth. In verse 19 it says this, and
this is condemnation. This is the condemnation of the
world, that light is coming to the world. And men loved darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. That's what
pride is. That's what self-will is. That's
what the self-righteous religious leaders of that day and this
day are doing. They're doing their will. Exercising
what they think is their power. And they love darkness rather
than light. Because their deeds are evil.
And then it goes on to say in verse 20, For everyone that doeth
evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved." They're not going to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ on their own. That's taking power away. I love
the fact that my Lord has power over me. I know I have no power
of my own. Now look at verses 9-14. And
when they had taken security of Jason and of the other, they
let them go. And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea. who coming hither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all
readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so. Therefore, many of them believed
also of honorable women, which were Greeks, and of men not a
few. Now check this out, verses 13
and 14. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that
the word of God was preached of Paul and Berea, they came
thither also and stirred up the people. And then immediately
the brethren sent Paul to go, as it were, to the sea. But Silas
and Timotheus abode there still. Now, if you will, I'd like you
to turn over to the book of Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I've been laying the table for
what we're about to read next. The leaders of Thessalonica went
out and stirred up trouble with the people. That was the persecution. Believe it or not, we may not
have somebody coming into this church, but maybe we do. Maybe we did. Maybe there has been those in
the past who have. You've all heard of, or most
of you all have heard about, a split that this church had
at one time. We had close to 100 people here, I believe it
was. I may be wrong on the number there, but it was up there quite
a bit. Five families. Five complete
families, which was over half of the congregation, up and left
one day. And went out into the world and
started their own church. And today there is nothing left
of that church. It was a church of works. They wanted to teach that you
had to become progressively sanctified. You would get better and better
and better as you went along and become more and more or less
and less of a sinner. We have to be on guard. Our Lord
leads us into his word to beware. Beware of sheep and wolves clothing. Be as the Bereans. Now you may think I'm talking
about somebody else who's come in and sit in this church. Folks,
I'm talking about me. You need to watch me and make
sure I'm talking about God's Word. You need to watch whoever
stands before you, whoever sits next to you, and make sure that
they're of the same faith. I don't mean to be looking at
people and pointing fingers, but just be aware that people
do come into the church and want to teach other things other than
the grace of God, Christ and Him crucified. Look at verses 1 through 6 with
me here in 1 Thessalonians. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus,
unto the church of Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ, grace be unto you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith. and labor of love and
patience and hope of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the
sight of God and our Father. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and
in much assurance. As ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake, and ye became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost." Now, today's title is, Followers of
the Lord. The saints at Thessalonica were
no different than you and I. Yeah, I know, their circumstances
were a bit different. We live in a country of freedom
where we can exercise our religious beliefs without harassment. We
don't go running into all the other churches that say they're
Christian churches because this is a free country and you can
do as you want. Their circumstances were a bit
different. They were persecuted. But their hearts were right where
yours and mine are this morning. We must follow Him. We can follow no other. Only
He has the words of eternal life. But in John 10 verse 24, we read
this, Then came the Jews round about Him, and He said unto Him,
Speaking to Christ, How long dost Thou make us to doubt? If
Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Now listen to what Jesus said.
Listen to what the Lord of Glory said to these men. I told you
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not because ye
are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. And I know them and they follow
me. How do we recognize somebody
who might come into the church and try to preach a different
gospel? If it's not about Christ, it's a different gospel. Eschatology
is not about Christ. It's about a time. Oh, they bring
Christ into it, and they say, yeah, it's the return of Christ.
But there's a whole lot of other stuff, too, that they say in
times. What's going to happen next?
They're looking for signs and wonders. Our Lord and Savior will not
let His people go. It's upon the rock of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, the Son of the Living
God, that His church is to be built upon. And He says this,
the gates of hell shall not prevail. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and they follow me. We don't run off after every
whim or fable that we hear from men. You know, down the street,
there's a church down the street. They've got a really good rock
band. Or they've got some people who
can sing with a country voice really, really good. Or they
might have a little smoke going across the podium. Boy, they
put on a really good show. Or, you know what, maybe they're
feeding the hungry. They're doing this, they're doing
that. It's not about Christ. We don't run off after every
whim, every fable, and follow some vain tradition that man
has imagined up. No, we keep coming to where Christ
is preached. What keeps bringing me back What
keeps bringing me back, Gene Harmon? What keeps bringing me
back, Steve Doyle? I don't understand this. I ought
to be home watching football. That's what I normally do. I don't understand why I've got
to keep coming back. You're telling me the same thing every Sunday.
That's because that's what God's people need. This is what we
need is to hear about our Savior. We live 24 hours a day in the
world of sin around us, in the world of weakness around us,
in all the chaos. I need some truth and the only
way I can find truth or hear truth is when I'm where the gospel
is preached. I need to hear the story of my
Deliverer, the Messiah, the Substitute, the King, the High Priest, the
Righteous Judge, the Lamb slain for my sake. This is a hymn book. H-I-M. It's all about Him. Oh, there's a lot of stuff in
here. You can go through 7 x 7 equals 144. That's talking about the
144,000. That's not the issue. The issue is not the numbers.
The issue is Christ and what He's done for people. What He's
done for you and I. It's about Him. It's about who
He is. Look over at John chapter 14.
Turn over to John chapter 14. John chapter 14 verse 6 through
11. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should
have known My Father also, and from henceforth ye know Him and
have seen Him." They're looking at Jesus Christ and He's declaring
Himself clearly who He is. I am God the Father in the flesh. He says, I and my Father are
one. Go on, Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father,
and it suffices us. And Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, and how sayest thou them, Show us the Father? Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words
that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself, but the Father
that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." We come to hear the preacher speak from this
book about Him. It's about where He came from.
Look at John chapter 17. John chapter 17 verses 1-5, These
words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
the flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the
earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do, and
now, O Father..." Remember, it's where He came from. Verse 5,
"...and now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self,
with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Can
it get any clearer than that where He came from? Jesus Christ
has always been the Son of God. He just wasn't the flesh. He
had to be born of a virgin. He had to be made flesh so that
He could be made sin. God the Father couldn't be made
sin. He's a Spirit. God the Father couldn't die for
you and I. He's a Spirit. But God the Son
could. And He did. Oh, isn't it wonderful? Sad, but wonderful that Christ
had to go through the troubles, the spitting, the beating, the
nails through His hand as He was hung from that cross. You
know, that's about the most wretched thing that they could do to any
human being at that time, would be to hang Him on a cross. The
most painful thing they could do to the body of a human would
be to hang it on the cross, and our Lord came here knowing that
that's what He faced for you and I. Heaven came down, and glory filled
my soul. It's all about why He came. Look
at verses 6-8 of chapter 17. I have manifested Thy name. That's
what He came down for. To manifest the name of the true
God. They had a bunch of false gods
in those days, just as we do today. I have manifested Thy
name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. He
came here to save His elect. Thine they were, it says, and
Thou gavest them Me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they
have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee. For I have given unto them the
words which Thou gavest Me, and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have
believed that Thou didst send Me. It's all about what He did
while He was here. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Turn
over to Hebrews chapter 10 for just a moment. What did our Lord do here? What
was it our Lord accomplished here? Look at verses 8-14 of
chapter 10, above, when He said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt
offerings, and offering for sin that wouldest not, neither hath
pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said He, Lo,
I come to do Thy will, O God. He did exactly what He was determined
to do. It was by the determined counsel
of God that Christ was hung on that cross. Oh yeah, wicked hands
hung Him there, and there's no excuse for that. But they couldn't
have done it if God hadn't given them the power to do so. That's
what he told Pilate, isn't it? You couldn't do anything to me
if God my Father hadn't given you the power of it. And when he said, Sacrifice and
offering, verse 8, and burnt offerings and offerings for sin,
thou wouldst not neither have pleasure therein which were offered
by the law. Then he said, Lo, I come thy
will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he might establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. There's the power of God. It's
done. It's finished. Quit trying to add your flesh
to it, and I know you do, because I do too. We can rest on the works of our
Savior because it was perfect works. It was finished works. It accomplished exactly what
he was here to do, offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every priest, verse 11, at
standard daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices. which can never take away sins,
but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for the sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." This book, this hymn book, This love letter that our Lord
has given to you and I as we pilgrimage through this world. It's about where He is right
now. Look over Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, just
a few pages to the left. Where is our Lord right now?
Look at verses 6-11. Philippians chapter 2, 6-11. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men, and being found in the fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Where is he right now? Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He's sitting
at the right hand of the Father, ruling as he sees fit. We follow the Christ of Scriptures
because there is no other who has the words of life. There
is no other who has the words of grace. There's a lot who say
they have grace, but then they mix in their works with it, and
as we know, works destroys grace. We follow the Christ because
He has called us with a holy calling, the power of God calling,
saying, John, come follow me. And I did. Kathy, come follow me. And she did. Put your name right there. And
the Lord with His power called you to come and follow Him. And
what did you do? You did. I said this in Bible study. I told
you this was going to bleed into each other. We know we were blind. We see the color of blue now. We see the truths of God. Why
can't everybody see it? Because they were blind, just
like we were at one time. I'm not bragging about me, I'm
bragging about my Lord and Savior and His grace to me and giving
me a sight to see. I'm bragging on His love for
me despite what I deserve. He has been merciful to me and
given me the sight to see. Go back to our text, if you would,
please, in 1 Thessalonians, just two pages to the right. Verse 6, "...and ye became followers
of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction." You know folks, we may not be
receiving any affliction from outside churches, but what about
the affliction we receive from within? Are you not afflicted
with the sins of your flesh? It's by the power of God. that
we keep going and keep following Him with joy of the Holy Ghost. Verse
7, so that we are in samples to all that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place your faith to God's word is spread abroad. This little church and rescue
is known Not just around the world in sovereign grace churches,
but right here. When Pastor Gene Harmon and his
wife Judy left for Kentucky, members of the church down the
street came here because they knew that Gene had left. You
see, they had come once before. And every time they came, Gene
Harmon said this to them, I decline your offer to teach whatever
other stuff you're trying to teach. We preach Christ. We are a Christ-centered church.
Sovereign grace in the face of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
They finally got tired and stopped coming. Oh, but Rescue has a
new pastor. Let's go see what's going on
there. A man who came up against our
pastor 30 years ago, and he was not rude about it. I'm not trying
to say there was anything rude or mean. He was very gracious
and just, he came up to the pastor and tried to talk to him about
these things. Remembered it very, very clearly
30 years ago, but what happened, came and tried it again with
John Reeves. Even though he knew that John
Reeves had been under the preaching of Pastor Gene for twenty years,
he still tried. For from you From you sounded out the word
of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every
place. Your faith to God's word is spread
abroad, so that we need not to speak of anything. For they themselves
show us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. and
to wait for his son from heaven, from whom he is raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Will
you go away also? Said our Lord and Savior to his
disciples when many had left and walked no more with him.
I ask you, will you go away also? Not if you belong to him. Look over at 1 Peter chapter
1 verses 1-9 and we'll close with that. Actually, if you folks
will just bear with me, I do have one more thing I want to
read after that. 1 Peter chapter 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, He let, according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and follower
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is 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, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith,
under salvation, ready to be revealed in the last times. wherein ye greatly rejoice now
through a season, if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found, speaking of your faith, being tried with the trials
of this life, might be found under the praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen,
ye love. in whom though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls." Followers of Christ. We are troubled at times
by the temptations of our flesh, by the trials of our flesh, but
it says in Isaiah 41.10, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness, not yours. A man by the name
of Thomas More wrote something, and I want to close with this.
Thomas More was one of the elders of Charles Spurgeon's church. He wrote one book. And I read
this out of that book, and I said, this has got to go with today's
message. He writes, true, the path is strange and trying, and
thou art weak and weary, and canst not see one step before
thee, but Jesus. Fear thou not, but Jesus is with
thee. Look to Him, fear not, the path
is not strange to Him, He knows it well, and He is with you in
it. Dost thou say it is a lonely
one? But remember, He is with thee,
therefore thou canst never be alone, for He will never leave
thee. He knows that thou art weary,
but He is with thee. Lean on Him. Lean on His arm. It is His arm, thy support. Lean on it. Lean hard. Thou canst
never weary Him. He is thy everlasting strength.
Thou meetest with none that truly understand thee, none fully to
sympathize with thee, but He is with thee then. He understands
thee. He knows thee. He knew thee of
old before the world was created and all that is therein. Thy
name was written in His book of life. He knows thee and He
knows the way thou takest. He fashioned thee. He called
thee His own. He planned this way that you
should walk with Him therein and learn how deep His sympathy
is for you. Dost thou look around, and do
thoughts cause thy tears to flow? Look to Him. He is with thee,
thy joy, thy light, thy peace. Be thou of good cheer. Let not
your heart be troubled. Remember this, thou art going
home. This world is not our home. Every
step shortens the homeward journey a little, a very little while,
and this home will be home with Jesus, and it will be home forever. Thou art now a traveler, a pilgrim,
but thou art going home. That where He is, there thou
must be, and behold and share His glory forever and ever. Then,
fear not. For Jesus says, I am with thee,
I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will
uphold thee. Amen.