Brethren, if you will, let's
turn back to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. The title of this message, You Lack
One Thing. Boy, what a blessing it'd be if someone was to know
they lacked one thing. Luke 18, verse 18. And a certain
ruler asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? In all three gospels, synoptic
gospels they call it, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this story is
recorded. And we call this the rich young
ruler. That's what it's often referred
to. Mark talks of this, and it says, And when he was going forth
in the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked
him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? This one coming and running to
him. That was the same as Nicodemus did. Nicodemus came to the Lord
by night. This was a man of Pharisees named
Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night,
and sent unto him rabbi, teacher, master, We know that thou art
a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles
that thou doest except God be with him. This young ruler's
recorded in John, just like Nicodemus again. Nicodemus said unto him,
how can a man be born when he's old? How can he enter into his
mother's a second time? What can we do? This isn't possible. What's something I can do? Matthew's
gospel says, and behold, one came unto him saying, good master,
what good things shall I do? You're talking, as Nicodemus
said, you're talking about this new birth. I can't do that. What's
something good I can do? Talk to me about something I
can do or what I've done. And just like him, this rich young
ruler in each gospel showing, he wants to do something. He
came running, he came kneeling, and he wants to do something
good. He wants to find a work he can perform. Why? That I may
have eternal life. What can I do that I may inherit
the kingdom? What may I do that I can have
eternal life? Good master, teacher, what good
thing? That's what he's asking. And our Lord answers this young,
this rich, this powerful man with a question. It says in verse
19, And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None
is good save one, and that's God. Why do you call me good?
There are none good. That's what he was getting at.
There's none good. No. Not one. Not one born of Adam. Well, I
think so and so's good. No, the Lord says no, there's
none good. Only God is good. And Christ
is God standing there. Right in his presence, looking
him in the eye. And he said, why do you call
me good? There's none good but God. What's he asking him? Do you
see me as God? Am I your Lord? Why do you say
these things? And this man did not flinch.
He understood that. Do you know that? What's the
Lord saying? There's none good but God. All
flesh is grass. That's what he told him. You
ain't nothing. You know what? Did he run away?
He didn't flinch at the doctrine of total depravity. Pretty good so far, isn't it?
Let's see where that leads. You see that? He knew all were
sinners. He just didn't know he was one yet. People don't
have a problem thinking all mankind's completely and totally depraved
and wicked at heart. We have a problem thinking I'm
wicked at heart. That's probably it. You turn on the news and
you'll see this is a wicked and perverse world. Hard to see that
I'm wicked and perverse. The Lord has to show that. He
says in verse 20, Thou knowest the commandments. You know the
scriptures. You've got a Bible. Do you know
that? You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor
thy father and thy mother. You've heard these things before. You have the Old Testament, don't
you? You're a scholar. And he said, all these have I
kept from my youth up. In Matthew's account it says,
and these have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? What lack I? I haven't missed
a jot or a tittle so far in the whole law. What am I lacking?
And you tell me what I need to do. What am I lacking? I think
I've got it. You know what that signifies?
There's not a comfort there. Why did he come? If he didn't
lack anything, why go? You're fine. Stay at home. Do
what you want. Build buildings and run countries. Do whatever. But he said, what
lack I yet? What did he lack? I want to consider
this man just for a minute. Let's think about this young
fellow that come up that was rich and had a position of power.
Isn't that what you want? You can get on your, I'll close
my eyes, you get on your pies high horse and say, I would never
want those things off. If you could be young, you'd
have a whole bunch of money and be in a good, powerful position
to call all the shots. That's what we wanted. I woke
up and looked in the mirror, who is that guy shaving me? Like,
where did that come from? There's gray hairs and wrinkles.
And it used to be a lot firmer. What did this young man like?
This one that came up, he was sincere, wasn't he? Was he sincere? He didn't have a problem with
total depravity. He didn't flinch at that. He'd come running. He
had some interest in eternal life. People said, well, he was so
excited to get there. No, he was fervent. You don't get rich by being lazy.
He did everything diligently, didn't he? He ran to the Lord.
He had a touch of humility. Who did he run to? He ran to
one that was a preacher, someone that was a teacher, someone that
was a rabbi. That's who he went to. He didn't
say, well, have them come to me. He went to Him. Christ was despised and rejected
of men, and people knew Him, and they knew that. And this
man had enough humility that he came, and he respected that
one that had rule over him. He said, you know something I
don't. And he kneeled. He had respect, courtesy for
one that was older than him. There was always a crowd of people
around, wasn't there? Wherever the Lord went, there
was a crowd of people. And here was this rich, young, powerful man
ran to him, kneeled down, and called him teacher. That looks
so good, doesn't it? He addressed him in honoring
terms. He called him good master. How many people do you think
in that day and age will go up to him and say, hello, good master?
They sought to kill him. They sought to kill him. He had
good terms for him, didn't he? This man was willing to put in
the effort. He was willing to do a lot of
things. What must I do? What must I do? He had a lot
of money. He had a lot of sway in the community. There's a lot
of things he could have done. If the Lord said, I want you
to build a church building. Done. We'll break ground tomorrow.
I got to pull permits. I want you to do some great and
wonderful thing. He'd have been eager to do it,
wouldn't he? If he had to buy it or provide for it or build it, whatever
it was, and he meant it, he was sincere and he had respect for
the law of God. He knew the commandments. He
knew the Word. He knew God's commandments. He
would have been the one voting to make sure the Ten Commandments
were posted in local schools. He said, Thou knowest, in verse
20, Thou knowest the commandments. Don't commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor thy mother
and thy father. He agreed to those. I know those. And I know
I've kept them from my youth up. After he said he kept that whole
law, look what our Lord says to him. Verse 22, it says, Now
when Jesus heard these things, He didn't catch Him off guard.
Our Lord already knew. He knows the hearts of people. Not the outward appearance, not
what the world would say, Boy, that one's just squared away
and they got all their ducks in a row. He knows the heart. He knows all things. But when
the Lord asks a question, what He's doing is He's drawing out
of that person what's truly in their heart. Adam, where are
you?" He knew where Adam was. He was teaching Adam something,
wasn't he? He asked this person these things. That's where the Lord's going
to meet his people. He's going to draw out their point of rebellion
and meet them right where they live. Nicodemus was hung up on
his natural birth. You must be born again. That's
what the Lord responded to him. He was a member of the Sanhedrin.
This is a Pharisee. A Pharisee is like, I've got
a good birth. I've got a good pedigree coming
to all this position. And look at me now. And the Lord
said, you got to be born again. This rich young ruler comes,
he said, sell off everything you got. Leave it all behind.
Give it to the poor. Give it away. And follow me. That was his point of rebellion.
That's where the Lord met him. It says in verse 22, Now when
Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou
one thing. You want to know what you lack?
I know what you lack. And I'm going to tell you what
you lack. He lacked one thing. Lacking that one thing. Did he
have all those? Of course he didn't. Had he kept
that law from his youth? Of course he hadn't. But the
thing he lacks is what nullifies anything else. This was the point
that affected everything else in his life. This one thing that
he lacked. James told us, he said, for whosoever shall keep
the whole law and yet offend in one point. If you keep the
whole law and there's one point, if you lack in one point, you're
guilty of the whole thing. This young man was nice. He was
respectful. He knew the scriptures. He was
willing to do something, but he was seeking acceptance before
God by what he was doing. He was indebting God to himself
by his acts. I'm going to do something, and
He'll do something for me. How common is that? Is this old stuff? Or is this happening in our day?
Well, if you'll do something, God's got an open offer out there,
and you do something, and He has to do something for you.
He's just waiting on you, wringing His hands, wishing you'd do something
for Him. That's not the case. That's not the God of the Bible. Every person that's trying to
work for their salvation or their sanctification or anything else,
there's one area they cannot overcome. If they're really honest
with themselves, not to me, not to anybody else, if they were
truly honest with themselves and they really thought that
is that good, there's some area, I don't know what it is, that
they know, that they ain't told nobody else, they just can't
get over. I just, if I could just clean up that one area.
I lack there, I know it. If they're honest with themselves,
I speak as a man. As Paul said, there's only one
area they know they can't overcome. That gives us a picture. We can't
overcome nothing. But naturally, there's some area
we understand. This man, his area was riches.
His area was vanity and power. It was his pride. That's what
it was. Verse 22 says, Now when Jesus
heard these things, he said unto him, Yet likest thou one thing,
so all that thou hast distribute it to the poor, and thou shalt
have treasures in heaven." What's the result of all that? What's
that really mean? Colon. And come, follow me. You're following
these things. You're following your strength
of youth. You're following your riches.
You're following your position and your wisdom and all these
things you have. The Lord said, throw that away and follow me.
Come, follow me. You'll have riches, don't you
worry about that. It's not what you think they are, not what
you desire. He said, come and follow me. And when he heard
this, verse 23, he was very sorrowful for he was very rich. He was
very remorseful. He was very rich. Matthew said
he had great possessions and those riches, that handsome face,
that power, and that was his riches. That was his God. That's what he couldn't let go
of. That's what he couldn't turn from. God had not been gracious
to this man yet for him to forsake everything that he held dear. Many think this is the Apostle
Paul was the rich and it might well be in one of the accounts
that says, and the Lord loved him and told him that. And I
don't mince words. If the Lord says he loves somebody,
They're loved. They've always been loved. They
always will be loved. Well, how'd that play out? I don't know.
That's what he said. He recorded in his word. Moses
was given that grace. So far, this man has not been
given that grace to turn from his idols. For him, it happened
to be outward things, material things. Moses was given that
grace. Did you know that? To turn from material blessings.
Turn over Hebrews chapter 11. We don't consider often. I don't. that what Moses had turned away
from. He was second in command of the
richest and most powerful nation in the world. Hebrews 11 verse 24. It says, By faith Moses, when he
was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming
the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, and seeing him
who is invisible." How did he do that? He saw him who was invisible. How did he have that faith? God
gave it to him. What did he give up? All this
high and mighty things. We thank Moses knew something,
didn't he? The Lord taught him something.
Moses, by the grace that God gave him, he was given the ability
to walk away from all those earthly things that man's just so focused
on. This man we're reading about
was not. The Lord hadn't given him that grace yet. Is that grace, that faith to
do such a thing? What is that? What's that grace?
What's that faith? It's not a what, it's a who. Who's that faith? Who's that
grace from? Christ was his riches. Moses
esteemed the reward of Christ greater than any of that. He
esteemed the presence of being with God's people more than sin
in a season. At what cost does it come? He
didn't care. That was the most valuable thing.
That man that's found a precious jewel in that field, he went
and sold everything he had and bought the field. That's just
a good businessman. That's just good sense, isn't it? Physically, Moses saw that. He saw Christ. He saw Christ
dwelling on his people. What did this man lack that made
all his works worthless? What truly was it that he lacked?
Life. Life. A dead man can have pockets full
of money. You can have identification.
You can have your pedigree. You can have everything you've
ever done, pictures of you with the president. You have everything, a nice fancy
suit and a tie just right. What's the only thing that dead
man lacks? Life. What does all those things matter?
It doesn't matter one lick. He ain't alive. Christ was his
life for Moses. Christ is life for all those
he's died for. That's what Paul wrote to us
in Philippians. He said, for me to live is Christ and to die
is gain. He said in Colossians 3, when
Christ, who is our life, he has to remind us of that. I need
to remind it often. He's our life, shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with him in glory. He's coming. That one that gave
us life, that is our life, He's coming. We're going to be made
like Him. That means this world is not
my life. Galatians 6.14 says, But God forbid that I should
glory, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. You know how
many times I've been called a fool for coming here? For up and moving
to California. I said, you ain't got a lick
of sense, buddy. That just ain't wise. What are you doing? I said,
well, if you could only know. The Lord's got a people out there. I have brethren. I'm gonna go
be with them. He's gonna let me spend time with them. I look
forward to that. That's still crazy. It's expensive out there.
You go like three months, it don't even rain. It's hard to
grow corn there. I said, that's all right. The
Lord will provide corn. He'll send it. Does that mean
sell off everything you have and wear one of those old hair
suits? That's nonsense, isn't it? They saved a lot of people. They just didn't put their stock
in those things that were very wealthy. Look at Job. He was
the greatest man of the East. He had a lot of wealth, didn't
he? Joseph, Solomon, Abraham. They were some mighty men, but
they had possessions that did not possess them. They happened
to have some things, but it didn't have their heart, did it? What
about power? The Lord saved several rich folks
in the Old Testament. What about power? What about
the kings? David. He had some power, didn't he?
He was a king. Nebuchadnezzar. He rode and reigned. The Lord
saved him. Made him an animal for a few years, but the Lord
saved him. Several that were really attractive.
I was thinking about Sarah. They went down to Egypt. Abram
said, listen, they're going to see you. and they're gonna see
how pretty you are, and they're gonna kill me. And so you lie
and say you're my sister. She must have been pretty, huh?
She's about 70 years old. You think, well, that's sweet,
and we could learn a lot from that. Us men, we ought to hold
our wives in high esteem. But the king noticed, and his
servants noticed, the government of that country stopped and took
notice of how pretty she was. But the Lord saved her. Did she
rely on her looks? She didn't esteem those things.
She esteemed Christ. She esteemed the Lord that saved her. All
those that had all those things added to that life that they
had already possessed. That's all it was. It was just
stuff. It was just something the Lord
made me that way. Who made you different? The Lord did. Why didn't those
things matter? Because they had life in Him.
That was the most valuable thing they had. This man lacked life
and he turned In that, without having that life, in turn, he
didn't understand that he had to keep all the law. And not
just keep all the law, he had to keep it in perfection. He
didn't have life to understand that. He didn't have a mind to
understand those things. That's what Paul told us in Galatians
3, For as many as are the works of the law under the law are
cursed. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. If you really get a handle
of that, you really understand those If we looked at it before,
you want to keep a law, you got to keep all of it. How many Levitical
laws are there? I had to look it up today. 613. I thought 618. I had to
remember that. You got to keep all of it, every
bit of it. If you understand that, that's
what Paul later asked, tell me, you that desire to be in law,
don't you hear it? Don't you see what this requires?
Aren't you alive? Can't you read this and see what
God requires? It's holy, perfect, perfection,
complete holiness. Always and everything. Don't
you hear it? He said, For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, he is a debtor to do the whole
law. You want to start that way? You
want to start with that covenant of works under Hagar and Ishmael?
You better do every bit of it. Not part of it. Not lack anything. That's not possible, is it? There
was one area he ignored, an old pastor said. He had an idol,
a false god, and it consumed him. There was one area he ignored,
one thing he forgot. You've got to be perfect. And
one person he didn't have, who's our life? It says in Luke 18,
verse 22, Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him,
Yet lackest thou one thing, Sell all thou hast, and distribute
it unto the poor. Get rid of your idols, walk away
from them. And thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, and come and follow me." All those things you hold
dear, let it go. Walk away from it. It's a one-on-one
thing. It would be so easy for me to
sit down and give a theological exposition of why each statement
of faith of a church is bad or something like that, why they're
wrong or why they're right. I ought to be worried if I know
him. I don't know if they know him.
That's my job to warn of the wolf. Don't get me wrong. But
this is personal. Does so-and-so know him? Does
this one know him? I wish so-and-so could hear that. I wish I could
hear him. That's what I need today. I need to be saved. I need to be in the faith. I
need Christ. Get rid of all that other stuff.
Come and follow Him. What is it to follow Christ?
It's to have a need to be with Him. To be taken up with His
Word. To be where He is. To be where
He is preached. That's what it is. Turn over
to Luke 10. A few pages. Luke 10. We remember this story
of Martha and Mary. Martha was so busy keeping the
house up and Mary's down there being lazy and standing by the
Lord's feet. She got upset over it, didn't
she? It says in Luke 10 verse 40, But Martha was cumbered about
much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not
care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore,
that she help me. These dishes need to get washed.
Lord, don't you care? I'm over here slaving away. Make
her come help me. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, There are careful and troubled about many
things, but one thing is needful. You're doing things that are
necessary, Martha. We appreciate that, but you lack something.
One thing is needful. Well, I need to do this. Hush.
One thing's needful. And Mary hath chosen that good
part, which shall not be taken away from her. Boy, there's some
comfort. Hope we can camp out for 30 minutes one day on that. It ain't gonna be taken away.
One thing's needful. What was Mary doing? She was
consumed with a person. She was hanging on every word
he spoke, feeding on the word, feeding on the gospel. And she
lost interest in many things and was committed to one thing.
Everything else kind of faded and I'll get that tomorrow. He's
here now. Christ, that's who she was focused
on. That's who she was committed to. This is what our Lord was
telling that rich and ruler. leave everything behind and follow
me. What do you ask that fellow at
the pool Bethesda? Will you be made whole? Will you? There's going to be some things
that come with that. You're going to throw that nonsense from the
past away. Will you? Turn over Philippians chapter
3. Paul had experienced what Mary had. Philippians chapter
3. Philippians 3 verse 4 says, Though
I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of Hebrews,
as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. What's that mean? He was so zealous,
he went after the Lord's church and was going to persecute them,
tell them all the things they did wrong. Throw them in jail, lock
them up. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. Outwardly, outside this cup is
as clean as it can get. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. He was in charge, he
was a judge, jury, and executioner. He had wealth, strength, power,
all these wonderful things. Is this your authority? He said,
I count it all loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. How are you going to know Him? By hearing of Him,
by hearing from Him. For whom I have suffered the
loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win
Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness.
That's what he's working for before. Same as his brethren
after the flesh. which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I may know Him. That I may know Him. Following the Lord is to know
the Lord, to hear His word, and to desire to be in His presence
and to be made like Him. Secondly, following Him is to
see that Christ is all I need. That kind of goes hand in hand,
don't it? I don't need anything else. I don't need to keep cleaning
up outside the cup. I need Him. Paul wrote to us
and said, But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Do you have to buy yourself? No, it's Him. He's fulfilled
that. Do I have to sanctify myself? The Lord's did that. What about
the act of righteousness in the human flesh to walk this world
perfectly under God's holy law? He did that. He's my righteousness. Well, how am I going to know
all these things? Am I going to have to figure them out? He's my wisdom. He
comes to us and gives us a need that we know that we have a need.
We needed to know we didn't have a need. He comes to us. He's
all things for His people. What more do we need? He's all
things. He's my rest. He's my peace. He's my strength. He's my defender.
He's my provider. He's all and in all. That's what
He is. Everything required of God is
in Him. Everything I truly desire, my heart's desire that He's given
me is Him. He said, come unto me and I'll
give you rest. Follow me and I'll give you rest. All of my redemption's completed
in His blood. Following Christ is not just
the fact that He lived and died for me, but that when He lived,
I lived. And when He died, I died. I was
in Him. When He arose, I arose with Him. Following the Lord is not something
we do on every big holiday. Well, it's Easter. We're going
to go down to the house of God and do something for Him. It's
not every first Sunday when there's a meal. Well, we'll show up for
that. It's not every Sunday. We come every Sunday. I don't
miss a Sunday. It's not every Sunday and Wednesday. When I
was growing up, they said, well, I go to church every week and
twice on Sunday. Following Christ is life. It's
the whole of your life. From morning till night, it's
to be with Him, to desire Him, to look to Him for all things.
Paul said over in Romans 6, we can turn it real quick, Romans
6. Romans 6 verse 3. Know ye not
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into His death? Therefore we are buried with
Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. Right now. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness
of His resurrection. knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead
is freed from sin." There's no difference in brethren. Did you
know that? If we're in a congregation, we're
sitting there just showing up and listening to the Lord be
declared, and we follow Him. If we preach, The Lord gifted
somebody to preach and get up and tell of Christ, and we're
following Him. If we pastor and we follow Him. If we're an apostle,
the Lord's apostles that He's ordained, and they followed Him. Every one of those. They're dead
to the world and alive unto God. Is there any difference? The
Lord does not love, He's not a respecter of persons, but He
doesn't love one of His children different, He loves another one.
Do you know that? We understand that, right? Being
His children. Get this. He doesn't love His firstborn
any more or any different than He does the middle-born or the
youngest one. Now that's love. How much does the Lord love those
that Christ died for as much as He loves Christ? That's something
to enter into, isn't it? We are bought with a price. We
are not our own. That's what it is. This world's
dead to me. It fades. Thankfully, the older I get,
the less I care for it. And the more I'm concerned with Him,
knowing Him and learning Him, having a word from Him instead
of a word from this world. Paul said, I'm crucified with
the cross, nevertheless, I died with Him. Whenever He lived,
I lived with Him. When He died, I died. When He
was risen, I was risen. He said, I'm crucified with the
cross, nevertheless, I live. I'm standing here. I'm still
in this body. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. What else matters? Really, what
matters? He does. Paul said in Galatians
6, 14, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and
I unto the world. Back in our text here in Luke
18, the Lord speaks to this man. He said in verse 23, And when
he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel
to go through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said,
who then can be saved? Here's His disciples sitting
there with Him. They knew Him. And like I said
before, they weren't millionaires. They weren't young and handsome
and powerful and rich, were they? So maybe that doesn't mean material
blessings, does it? It wasn't material riches. It
was that they were too important to Him. They were more needed
by this man than the Word of Christ was needed. Those things
were more needed and dear to him than substitution of Christ
was needed. And they were more needed and
precious to him than the fellowship of his saints. That was the problem. There's people in this world
that have riches like we looked at before, those kings and Job
and all those. And Paul told Timothy, he gave
him this charge whenever he was becoming a pastor. And he said,
charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded.
He said, you have some wealthy folks that come to services with
you, and you have some poor folks, and you have some handsome folks,
and you have some powerful folks. And he said, you charge them,
Timothy, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. He ain't talking about money.
What's our riches? What is it to be rich in this
world? Old Spurgeon said, be not proud of race, of face, of
place, or of grace. What's that mean? We could stand
up and be proud in anything. Proud in anything. There was
some people that learned how to play the piano years ago in
my hometown. A lady I went to church with,
she taught them how to play the piano. And she could play just
as good as they could. She's the one that taught them.
Taught them music, music theory. Well, they grew up, Did they
go to service and church and honor the Lord and say, Lord,
you gave me this. You gave me these fingers to do it. Now they
went off and made a big living. They sought the riches of this
world. They had church on Sunday. Not
one of them just killed themselves last week. They had a long life
of success in this world. But that one little old woman
that taught them that, she was faithful to the end. Faithful
to the end. She played piano better than
anybody I've ever seen. How do you learn that, Miss Ballard?
The Lord gave it to me. The Lord gave it to me. Who then can be saved is what
they ask. See your calling, brethren. Not many wise after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He chose
the weak things of the world. How could this be? And he said,
these things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Lord, who then can be saved? Anybody I please to save. That's
what he's saying. Then Peter said, lo, we have
left all and followed thee. And he said unto them, verily
I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or parents
or brethren or wife or children for the kingdom of God's sake
who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and
in this world to come life everlasting. This is an investment opportunity. I have some physical brothers
I left. I'm not in their presence anymore.
I don't have the ability to commune with them. I can't go see them
anytime I want. For the sake of the gospel, I
forsook them. I said, you ought to move here.
We'll give you a patch of land. We'll build you a house. Your
name's on the building out front. You'll be in business with us.
People said, you forsook your brothers. Look how many brethren
my Lord gave me. I left a house, I sold a house.
We didn't pay for a motel room until we, if we'd have come through
Texas, we'd have had to just drive all night from Texas to
here, but we could have went all the way across this country
and stayed in everybody's house. Come on, here's your bed. There's
a pantry, eat all the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you
want. Drink all the milk you want. It's hard, but we still
call people brother. Why? We esteem them higher than
we esteem the brethren that the Lord gave us. That's the problem. Peter said, we've left all and
followed thee, and the Lord said, I'm telling you, there ain't
a man or a woman alive. You'll physically leave your
wife and children. You may not go to church with your brethren
no more, with your mommy and daddy. He said, I'll give you
a family. He said, who shall not receive
manifold more at this present time? That's what we have in
this life, this body of believers. and in the world to come, life
everlasting." Some folks say, I can't get along with the Lord's
people down there. You're going to have a hard time
in eternity, buddy. I was talking to David Edmonds another day.
I said, David, I love you and I like you. He said, I can't
wait to see you again. I said, there'll be a day we
get to see each other all day every day, because we'll be with the Lord,
worshiping Him together. Won't that be wonderful? He's
gave us that now in this earth. Father, thank you for this word.
We'll be with us. Leave us not to ourselves. Break
us from our pride and our idols and turn us to Christ. Lord, he's the thing that is
needful. Allow us to see that every day. Lord, early in the day when we
wake up, allow us to see our need of him and a call for him
early in the day and throughout the day. We'll be with your people
everywhere as you promised. You will be. Thank you for this
hour. Thank you for the brethren and
the body that you've given us on this earth, Lord. Haste the
day. It's in Christ's name that we
ask it. Amen.