For our devotional this morning,
I'd like to read an article written by Pastor Gene Harmon, my pastor. He'll be my pastor until the
Lord takes him home. He's very sick. Yes. We don't know if he has
the COVID or not. He won't go get checked. But
he'd been very, very, very sick. and just pray for him. He likes
to play it off and say, I'm okay though, I'm okay. Pastor Gene writes, faith, if it be the faith of
God's elect, will embrace and rest only in Jesus Christ and
his perfect work of redemption. Philippians 3, 3 we read this,
for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Pastor Gene goes on to say, all
false religionists, even though they might profess Jesus Christ
to be their Savior, put their trust in something they have
done which they foolishly and sinfully think enables God to
accept them. Brethren, he says, addressing
you and I. Brethren. In Ephesians 1, 6-7
we read this, God has made us accepted in the Beloved. That's speaking of Christ. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace. Brother Gene goes on to write,
when God gives his gift of faith to a hell-deserving sinner, we
not only enter into his rest, we also cease from our own works
as God did from his, giving our great triune God all the glory
for his unspeakable gift. And I say amen. Those are words that bless This centers heart. A great deal. I'm so thankful for this little
place our Lord has provided here in the woods. Our brother Mike Loveless has
mentioned many times how precious it is for us to have a place
to go and worship our Lord in spirit and in truth. And oh,
how true that is, especially when we begin to think about
all the churches out there and all of those who profess to know
a Jesus. a different Jesus than the one
that is spoken of in scriptures, one of their own imagination.
Just as Brother Mike brought out in his Bible study this morning,
there are two kinds of religions. The religions of works and the
religion of grace. Only one of grace. And it is
only by God's free and sovereign gift to his people that you and
I have been brought out of whatever may be out there in the world. Do we truly understand the depth, the depth of how wonderful that
is? Do we not need a place to come
and worship our God? Do you know when Israel first,
when Moses first approached Pharaoh, it was so that Israel could go
out into the wilderness and worship for three days. Eventually it
came to the point where they left and they never came back,
but at first it was all about going out into the wilderness
to leave the world behind, which is what we're doing this
very morning. By our Lord's grace and mercy, we've come out of
the world. The world that we walk in every day, however long
the Lord brings us up and out of the bed and moving around
in it. I don't know if you folks are
like me, but going about my life, in this
valley, the shadow of the death that we walk through every day. I'm overwhelmed with all the
chaos that's going on around us, all the... and I'm not just
talking about political nonsense, I'm talking about everything.
I'm talking about all the things that man turns into lies. You
know what I mean. I'm talking about all the temptations
that fled John Reeves. Do you have those? I'm talking about my weaknesses
that overwhelm me. Do you have that? The weaknesses of the flesh.
Our Lord says this for a good reason. Listen. Listen carefully. Do not forsake the assembly of
the saints. There's good reasons for us to
put the world behind us and come out. Good reasons. Oh, how thankful
I am for the sureness that my Lord gives me when I come to
worship Him in His house. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 23,
if you would please. Again, I don't know, I'm sure
some of you are like myself, but when I've arranged for something
to come about I have a daughter who's a full age now and she
got married once and then her husband left her and she got
married again. But the first time, I put out
a lot of money for that wedding. Not as much as some put out,
but I put out a lot. In my pocket, it was a lot. It took a couple years to pay
it off. I was very, very meticulous on what I was paying for. Wait
a minute, that sandwich is mine. Don't throw that out. Put it
in a bag, and I'm taking it with me afterwards. When I've arranged for something
as a wedding or a family dinner, you ask my wife, if something
doesn't go right in the cooking of a family dinner, I'm right there with her. If
something's not going right, or what about a trip maybe to
the store and the car gets a flat tire? How about planning and bringing
about a Sunday service? If things don't go as I had planned
or foreseen they could, well, needless to say, there's disappointment.
Is that the way it is with you? My plans are fallible, you see.
Things don't always work out the way John wants them to. In
about a month from now, Lord willing, after all the years
I've worked as a truck driver, I've got it planned down to the
second. I'm going to work three days
next week, three days a week after that, Lord willing, three
days a week after that, and then I'm not working anymore. Well, at least not as a truck
driver. I'm sure I'll work at something.
That's John's plan. Now we'll see what the Lord has
in store for me. How often does what the Lord
has in store for me much, much different than what I think I
need. My plans are fallible. does not
always go as I think it should. Even when I make a commitment
or a promise, sometimes something else comes up. Other events happen
or circumstances that may interfere with my abilities to fulfill
that commitment. We try. I do the best I can to
be a trustworthy man and complete whatever it is I've
committed to. But it doesn't always work out
that way. Something seems to always fit in and fulfill, to
impose, to interfere with my abilities to fulfill certain
commitments. You see, you can't always count
on someone's word for things to happen. Things change with
men in this world. Many try to keep what they promise,
but sometimes things just happen. and the promises cannot be fulfilled.
Our world is a changing place. Circumstances guide our actions. But I'm here this morning to
tell you about one who rules over all circumstances. There is no changing with him. There's one who works all circumstances
out and all things according to His good pleasure. We read
about it here in Lamentations 3.22. No, we'll be in 2 Samuel. Don't turn your Lamentations.
But let me read from that. 3.22, it says it this way. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. His desires, His wants, His plans,
His purposes are not like man's. Quit trying to make God like
you. His ways are above our ways so
far, you and I can't even understand how far above our heads they
are. That's the problem with the world.
We want to make a God who fits us, rather than the God right
here in His Word. all-powerful, sovereign over everything. In
Malachi 3.6 we read it this way, For I am the LORD, he says, I
change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. This one I'm speaking of is one
who the whole world is putting their arguments aside for just
a moment so that they can worship this little thing, this little
baby in a manger. This very one that I'm speaking
of is spoken of in Isaiah 9-6, where it says, For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be on his shoulders. Not will be. Some say, well,
you know, the Lord's going to come back and reign for a thousand
years. Our God, the God of this book right here, reigns now. And He always has reigned. He
just wasn't always in the flesh. This is the child it's speaking
of right here. And the government shall be on
His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful. I like that
fact that the government is on His shoulder. I like the fact
that my Lord rules over everything. Because when I see the truth
of what John is, and what John is capable of, I look on the
40 years that I ran my life in the mist. The mist that it was. Oh, how
wonderful it is to be shown who the Lord is. To be shown His sovereign rule
over everything, including our will. He shall be called Counselor. You want to really see some good
stuff, go into this book right here, this thing we call the
Word of the Lord, and see the counsel of God, the Creator of
everything. There's more sense right here
than any man can ever come up with in anywhere. Stop thinking
those fools that we have that run our country are higher than
anybody else. They're not. They're just men.
just as you and I are, as fallible as we are. You want perfection?
Look into the Word of God. That's where perfection is. He shall be called the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the
very One who rules over all circumstances. Every power is His, and by His
purpose, every iota is ruled by His thoughts, His will. In
Colossians 1.16, we read it this way, Paul was inspired to write,
for by Him, by the Lord Jesus Christ, were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in the earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions. or principalities. You see how
he doesn't leave anything out there? It's not just over the
weather and whatever else you might consider in front of your
face or in front of your eyes. It's over everything. Principalities. That gets down to micronisms
that are so small we can't even see them. Or powers, it says. All things
were created by Him and for Him. That's something you can count
on right there. You may not be able to count on John Reeves,
but you can count on this right there. When He gives a promise,
when He says His word must or shall, it must, it shall. I like that. Unlike the world
and mankind that dwells therein, His Word is sure. This is a confidence that only
can be had through the God-given faith, the God-given gift of
faith that we read about in Ephesians 2. I am confident that my wife, Kathy, will do
all she can in her power to keep her word with me in every way. I am very confident that she
will do everything in her power. But I also know that circumstances,
the circumstances of our world can change. It may not be in
her power to fulfill some commitment. And therefore I take this into
consideration as we all do with any commitment someone might
give to us or one of us. But folks, there is no wavering
with God. No wavering at all. His Word
is described as the solid rock. That's what we just sang about.
On Christ, the solid rock. On Christ, the God-man. The very one who shed the blood
of God on the cross for His people. There's no stronger rock than
that in creation. He created all the rocks in creation. How could anything be stronger
than Him? He's described as a solid rock,
so big, so solid, that nothing our little minds can think of
can move it. This is a confidence a true child
of God of the Most High must be given. Our confidence must
be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Usually it's not all at once.
Some may get this confidence a little quicker than others,
but for the most part it's a gradual thing. In Romans 10, 17 we read
this, so then faith That's what that is. That's what that confidence
is. That's what trust is. Our faith, our belief in who
He is. Our belief in what He's done.
Our belief in where He is right this moment. Our confidence. So then faith cometh by hearing.
And hearing by the Word of God. We come into this little place
that our Lord has provided. We come out of the world where
all the chaos is so that we can hear some truth. So that we can
be reminded there's only one truth in this world, and that's
the truth of God's Word. I tried to raise my children
as best I could, and one of the things I put my foot down hard
or not necessarily down, sometimes right up their tail end, was
don't ever lie to me. My wife and I go out of our way
to help friends and family when we can, but don't ever lie to
me or I'll stop. I'll just throw everything out
the door. That's the last thing I'll ever do. I need to hear this solid rock
of truth right here as often as God will give me the opportunity
to hear it. My faith cometh by hearing the
word of God and hearing by the word of God. How about yours? Through the faithful preaching
of God's word, a child of the true and living God will grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what it says in 2 Peter
3.18. More and more. Now before you think I'm going
to go more and more getting righteous, I'm going to say this, more and
more. We are weaned from our confidence, the confidence
that we think we have in this fleshful body that we walk in.
The more we hear about our Lord and His power over everything
and the weaknesses of men, we see that we have none ourselves
and we are weaned of our confidence in this flesh. We walk in and
more and more our confidence is in the rock of God's Word
and it's built up through hearing that Word preached. I have witnessed
this very growth in many of God's loved ones, those for whom he
died for, those for whom he shed his blood for. Don Fortner was
one. How many of you have come to all the conferences and seen
the confidence of Don Fortner? grow from the strong preacher
that he was to the weak preacher that he was. How often did we
hear him say this? I am not the one with any strength.
It is the Lord that I'm talking of. And as I look back over those
years and see all the messages that my dear brother, the one
that I love, Gene Harmon, Tell me if this is not correct.
Did he not change when he retired? Did he not become more of a preacher? Did he not get stronger in his
message? I know. I know some of you think
that because I've had those conversations with you. Wow! Ever since Gene's
retired, man, he's just getting better by the minute. Folks,
it hasn't changed. He's still getting better. He's
still putting away more of the flesh. That's why he doesn't
want to go see the doctor. He doesn't care about what's
going on with his body. He's 80-something years old.
Or no, is he 80-something years old yet? No. I'm putting him
a little higher than I should. You know, he's going to hear
this message. And then I'm going to hear about it the next week
when I talk to him about it. He's getting up there a little
bit in age. This too shall pass, he loves to say. My God is working
it out. If He wants to take me, this
virus or whatever it is I have, I'm going to go. We saw this with our dear brother
Daryl. I witnessed it with him. The
confidence that he had just three days before the Lord took him. Even though he was doped up on
morphine when they sent him home, he prayed the glory of God after
a message I had preached to him three days before he died. The very day before God took
him, I heard him, he said yes when I asked him, do you want
me to pray? I brought you here to that point
for a very good reason. We don't get any better in the
flesh, but we do come to depend on our Lord more and more and
more and more as time goes by. You see, all the trials that
you and I are living through right now remind us of how weak we truly
are in the flesh and turn us to look to our Lord and Savior.
That's the work of the Spirit. to bring us away from the flesh
and point us to Christ. I've seen so many of those for
whom our Lord has died. those for whom He has shed His
blood, those that He declares in Genesis 17, 7, and I will
establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after
thee, and their generations for an everlasting covenant. Remember,
we began this whole conversation talking about needing to come
out of the world, hearing the promises of God, That's what
the covenant is. It's a promise. It's a promise
between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
God the Father gave a people. He gave a people to His Son on
the fact that if His Son would go to the world and become flesh
and die for those people. Because you see, sinful flesh
can't be in the presence of God. We need a righteousness. And
that covenant was that Christ, the Son of God, would establish
that righteousness for His people. And He did. Perfectly. 100%.
And then He went to the cross and shed His blood so that you
and I would be seen in that blood. Our God looks down upon us and
sees us as perfect as His Son because He sees the sacrifice
of His Son. In that covenant, there was another
part of that promise, that Christ would not stay in the grave.
That death could not hold Him. He was raised again. He says,
I have the power to lay down my life. I have the power to
raise it up again. Death could not hold Him. He
left those sins that you and I have committed, are committing
this very moment, and will commit until the day the Lord takes
us out. in that grave. And now he sits on his holy throne
ruling everything according to his will. I will establish, he says, My
covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed, and after thee,
and their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a
God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Jeremiah 31.3, it
puts it a little differently. It says, The Lord hath appeared
unto me of old, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I have drawn thee. These ones that are drawn, they
are called His elect. He says, My sheep, hear My voice. And here in 2 Samuel chapter
23, one of these elect, one of these sheep who heard the Word
of God, has come to an end of his time. An end of his time
on this world. And listen to his words of confidence. Are you with me? 2 Samuel, chapter
23, beginning at 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 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. 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 the morning without the
clouds, as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining
after rain. Although my house, he says, be
not so with God, yet he, yet he. Yet he, yet God, but God, 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 to grow. My title
and point that I would like to make this morning is ordered
and sure. This child of God went to his
deathbed with this one thing on his mind. My salvation was
ordered by God, arranged by God, accomplished by God, therefore
it is sure." If the Lord was to take you this
afternoon, could you say that? Our brother Mike Loveless was
sharing with us his time as a Seventh-day Adventist, and he brought out something.
He says, what about those days You know, they teach that you
have to be strong all the time, you're always having to do this,
you always have to be strong in the faith, this, this, this.
He says, what about those days when I might be weak and I'm
crossing the road? What if a bus hits me when I'm
in a weak moment? It doesn't matter to a true child
of God. When the Lord takes us, it's
still going to be of Him. Thank my God that I don't have
to count on my strength, that I count on His. What about you?
You count on His strength. Oh Lord, help us not to put anything
of our own works into it. You see, the word ordered means
to be arranged, to be put in place. And then the word sure. The word sure means to be hedged
about, kept. When the devil was going to and
fro in the earth, roaring like a lion, he came with the sons
of God to present themselves before God. And God said this
in Job chapter 1 verses 7-10, And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? Then 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? that there is none like
him in the earth, perfect and upright, a man with one... I'm sorry, a perfect and upright
man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered
the Lord and saith, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou
not made and hedge about him? That's the exact same word. That's
the very same word that David wrote. You know, some don't,
there's no proof. People want to argue back and
forth about things in scripture, so I'm not going to get into
any kind of conversation that says this is right or not, but
just if it's possible. They think that Job may be an
older book than any of the ones of Moses. What if the book of Job was around
for David to read at that time? I know David had some books.
He had some books of the Old Testament. Maybe not the Psalms
because he was busy writing them. Maybe not some of the minor prophets
because they were still after David. But still, maybe there
was. The devil says, Hast thou not
made an 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. David
had come to know through God's word, as we read in verse 2,
that his salvation If it was of God, was ordered and sure. Look at our text again at verse
2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my
tongue. As you and I have been given
faith to trust in His Word, so do all of His saints. 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. I am God, and there is none like
Me. That's pretty easy stuff right
there. I remember one of the things that crossed my mind when
the Lord first opened my ears to hear His words spoken right
here in this church. It made more sense to me about
the God that the man standing up here was preaching about.
It made more sense to me that that was a true God than anything
I'd ever heard being raised even in Baptist families. I'd never
heard about a God who deserved to be called God. I'd never heard
about a God who ruled even over the will of men. I'd never heard
about a God who had became flesh. I'd heard about Jesus. I just
didn't hear all the truths of it, of what that meant. I had never heard about how the
triune God has done everything to glorify Himself and to bring
His people before Him. I had never heard about how He
became flesh and walked perfectly for me. I had never heard with the ears
of the heart how that He had shed His blood for me. I had never heard on how He had
left those sins in the grave and was now sitting on His throne, looking after me, keeping me. We call it the throne of grace.
And as time goes along, our desires are brought to come away from
the things of this world. The trials and the tribulations
that we go through teach us not to have any confidence in the
flesh, but to look and to trust the Everlasting One more and
more and more. We sang the song, the opening
hymn, more about Jesus. Was that just a good tune to
you, or did the words ring in your heart? Turn to the 37th Psalm if you
would, and while you're turning there, Allow me to read once again those
words, the very words that we sang in
opening today's service. 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, hold in communion with my Lord, Hearing His voice in
every line making each faithful saying mine. More about Jesus
on His throne. Riches in glory all His own. More of His kingdom sure increase. More of His coming, Prince of
Peace. Look with me at verses 16 through
28 of the 37th Psalm. A little that a righteous man
hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms
of the wicked shall be broken at, 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 of the lambs. They shall consume into smoke,
shall they consume away. The wicked borroweth and payeth
not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth. For
such as be the blessed of him shall inherit the earth, 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 shall not be utterly cast down, for the
Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am
old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed
begging 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 the 25th
Psalm. Psalm number 25. And look with me, if you would,
at verses 11 through 20. For thy name's sake, O LORD,
pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. This is the very one,
folks, who laid on that bed and said, my salvation is sure. Not because of anything He had
done, but for Thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity,
for it is great. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Verse 12, Him shall He teach
in 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 covenant.
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 mine affliction and
my pain. Consider mine enemies, for they
are many. Oh, let me finish that. Let me
back up and start again at verse 18. Look upon mine affliction
and my pain and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies,
for they are many, and they hate me with a cruel hatred. Oh, keep
my soul and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my
trust in Thee. Oh, keep my soul. That's the same word as order.
O 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, he wrote them with the same faith. This is important. The very same
faith that God gives each and every one of us. It wasn't a
faith in what David had done. It was a faith in our Savior
and what He is doing. Great is Thy faithfulness, not
mine. I'll let you down every time,
but my Lord won't let us down for anything. His faith was in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Our confidence is in Him and
because it is of Him and not of our flesh, we have full confidence. We have full assurance. Our salvation, as David wrote
on the days before, on the moments before he died, was this very
thing. My salvation is of the Lord. The Apostle Paul puts it this
way. We've all heard these words, so I'll just read it for you. What shall we say then to these
things? If God before us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? I never get tired of hearing
those words. I never get tired of hearing those words. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. You think David thought about
that as he was getting ready to die? We're all going to stand
before the judgment seat, folks. Are you standing? Are you going
to stand in your own works? Or do you stand in the Lord's?
That's what it comes right down to. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. And then Paul gives this wonderful
statement. I am persuaded. Are you? Is there doubt? I am persuaded that neither death
nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." I can say this was confidence.
Not confidence in John, in his faith, in His works, in His thoughts,
the confidence in the promises of my Lord and Savior. My salvation is ordered by Him. My salvation is provided by Him. And my salvation is accomplished
by him. Therefore, I have surety. It
shall be done. Salvation is of the Lord. Amen.