that sovereign power to save. He fills the poor with good. He gives the suffered rest. The Lord hath judgments for the
proud, and justice for the oppressed. His wondrous works and ways He
made by Moses known, But sent the world His truth and grace
By His beloved Son. Thank you, Gabe, Sharon. Alright,
let's go to Matthew's gospel tonight. Matthew chapter 16. We continue to study through
this gospel. Matthew 16. Let's read verses 5 through 12. These are the only verses we'll
look at tonight. Sixteen versus five through twelve. And when his disciples were come
to the other side. They had forgotten to take bread.
And if you'll notice the little. Symbol for. Paragraph there in
front of verse six. I remind you that that is. Sometimes
some time takes place between the previous verse and that verse
for a new thought. So a little while went by, and
apparently they were walking along together. They walked most
everywhere together. And the Lord stopped and said
unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees. And that's all he said. And then
the apostles, disciples, apparently were walking along and began
to reason among themselves, saying, it's because we've taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he
did not hear this, he knows our Lord is omniscient, knows all
things, knew their thoughts. He said unto them, O ye of little
faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the
five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven
loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you took up.
How is it that you do not understand that I spake not to you concerning
bread that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees. Then understood that how he bade
them not beware of the leaven of bread. but of the doctrine
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Now, Brother Dan Parks used to
have a radio program in the British Virgin Islands where he was a
preacher for years. And he began every message by
saying, I'd like to ask you a question. That's a good way to begin to
make you stop and think and get your attention. I'd like to ask
you a question. What is it, what is it that causes
us the most worry and gives us the most anxiety in this life? I've got the answer. it is our temporal wants and
necessity. In other words, worrying about
provisions for this life, how we're going to pay for this,
pay for that, how we're going to meet these necessities and
so forth. It really isn't. And yet these
things are of least importance And these things for the child
of God. For God's people. Our Lord is
speaking to his disciples here. His people. His children. God's children. His chosen. His elect. All men are not. Please work. And he is speaking
to them and to us through them. And these things, these temporal
things are as certain for the child of God as the sun's going
to come up tomorrow. Absolutely. David wrote in Psalm
37, 25, he said, I have been young and now I'm old. He was about 70 when he wrote
that, or at least in his late 60s. He said, I have been young
and I am now old and I have never seen the righteous forsaken,
God's people, or God's seed baking bread. Never. Now, do you know how vast David's
kingdom was? Do you know how many people he
I met and knew, not just Israel, but all over the then known world.
He said, I'd never seen God seen naked before. Never. I asked that people all the time
who call me here, or used to call, wanting handouts and so
forth, I asked them, do you worship anywhere? Do you belong to a
body of the Believers, you go and worship God, and generally
they say yes, and I ask, where? And they tell me, and I say,
well, why aren't they helping you? Would one of our own go without?
No. None of God's people do. That's
what Scripture said, right? And he says in Romans 8, verse
32, He said, He that spared not his own son, but delivered him
up for us all, all of God's people, how shall he not with him, with
that gift of all gifts, also freely give us all things? And I've given you this illustration
before. It would be like someone giving
you their whole estate And then you say, well, I need,
I need a lawnmower to cut the grass. Oh no, he won't give you
that. That's a little asking a little much, isn't it? Did you hear that verse? He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. God's people.
How shall he not with him also freely give us all? He said,
seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All
these things to be added to. He said, If you being evil know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
they have in their pockets? And yet these things worry us. Well, these disciples, And, you know, the things we
should be most concerned with, we take for granted. Spiritual things, the things
which we should be most concerned about and thinking about, we
take for granted and sometimes go go long periods of time without
even thinking about it. And the scripture says, give
diligence to make your call in election true. Spiritual assessment. Now, they
had forgotten to take bread. Now, go back to Matthew chapter
10. Do you remember this? Matthew
10. They had forgotten to take bread, but I see nowhere in the
gospel, in this gospel or any other, where the Lord told them
to plan ahead and provide food. Do you stand? Have you read the
scriptures? Do you see anywhere where the
Lord told them, no, you all are going to have to get us some
bread? nowhere to the contract he told
his disciples. In verses look at verses five
through ten chapter ten these twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded
them go not into the way of the Gentile. And in any city of the
Samaritans enter you not go rather to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. As you go preach say in the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. Heal the sick cleanse the lepers Raise the dead, cast out
devils freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither
gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor script for your
journey, nor neither two coats. Script means food and all the
necessities. Neither two coats, neither shoes,
nor yet staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat. You're
going to be provided for, you see. You don't provide anything
for it. And yet, they said, we forgot
to take bread. Now, he plainly told them that
they did not need to provide for himself. How long ago was
that he told them that? It wasn't too long. Told them
they would be provided for, and yet how quickly they forgot.
How quickly. Now they were to live completely
100% on the provisions the Lord would provide them for. They did not work jobs. They
couldn't. They were being sent out everywhere,
and they were going to live on the food that the Lord told other
people to give them. You and I are told to go to work,
aren't we? We're told to go to work. Scripture
says, if any man will not work, Don't let him eat. Right? That's what the Scripture said.
In Genesis chapter 3, when it all started, at the fall of man,
our Lord told Adam plainly, He said, In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread. Sweat implying hard work. In the sweat of God's face, thou
shalt thou eat bread until you return to the ground. The day you die. So that means no retirement.
Honestly, that is not completely. Work is. Well, I began to think
about this work is hard. They wouldn't call it work. It's
hard, right? Work is hard, and sweat is an
indication of that. Work is good. Hard work is good. It prevents idleness, worthlessness. I've known people, and you have
too, that work harder and get in and out of work. And as I said, we don't read
here where the Lord ordained retirement. And John, you and
Henry are taking that very literally, aren't you? Henry, Brother Henry
Sword retired 10 years ago. But he still works about 12 hours
a day. The point is that the Lord ordained us to work to prevent
idleness, which is bad. And it's good for us. It's good
for us. Now, listen, before the fall,
Adam tended a garden, didn't he? He tended the garden. The Lord put him in a garden
to tend it. He didn't toil. He tended it. And it was enjoyed. And I really believe, according
to Isaiah 65, that in the new earth, we're going to have things
to do. But it won't be toil. There won't
be any sweat. There won't be any labor. There
won't be any pain. It certainly won't be thorns
or thistles. That's what came up after the
fall. Thorns and thistles. The point
I'm making is work is a result of sin. Work entered in because of sin. And all the toil and all the
pain, all the aggravations and problems we experience in this
life are a constant reminder to us of our sin, which is good. Sin. Our sin, as well as Adam's,
that is, original sin. Can't blame Adam that we have
his original sin in us. But we are sinners, and hard
work is a reminder of that. the sweat and toil and pain and
so forth. You've heard of Murphy's Law,
haven't you? I think it says that whatever
can go wrong, will. Right? That's not Murphy. Who's that fellow, Murphy? Some
Irishman. That's the law of sin. That's God's law. A reminder. Quite often, You know how you're
doing something around the house or whatever you work in whatever
and something you're doing something. Difficult or whatever you say
you're working with your hands and you drop something. Or is
it going to go. It's going to go from outside.
Sam if you drop a ball. You have to search for. Aggravations
little things like that. And often I wonder, and you know,
that's something to do. And I wonder, why is this happening?
You look and look and say, ah. Sin. It's a reminder. Also, it's
a reminder. Search for something. You really
need it. Seek it. And on and on we go with that.
But anyway, the The toil and the pain, the aggravation, the
problems of this life are a constant reminder of sin. And the days,
I'm talking to those who know what I'm talking about, the days
when you feel particularly rotten and sinful. Everything seems to go wrong.
Anybody know what I'm talking about? You just, you know, your
rotten self rises up. Everything seems to go wrong
that day. And it's good. It reminds us. The Lord has not dealt with us,
though, after our sin. We just read that, didn't we? Nor rewarded us according to
our iniquity. Brother Sam reminded me after
Sunday's message that I left something out. He's a good reminder. We were talking about our light
affliction, remember? Our light affliction, their light
compared with God's blessings, their light compared with what
some people go through, their light compared with future glory
and what we shall have. And he reminded me, their light
compared with what we deserve. The world, the preachers of this
world will not tell people that they deserve anything bad or
so forth. Job said that. As we receive
good from the Lord, shall we not receive evil? But the Lord
has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us. We haven't
gotten what we deserve. The Lord is tender mercy. Here's the point. Why did I bring
all that up? The disciples had forgotten to take bread. They
said that. They forgot to take bread. And here's the point.
They're told they weren't told to provide for themselves what. We're told to go to work. But we still don't provide for
ourselves. You understand where I'm coming
from here? We're told to go to work because that's what that's
what we're supposed to do. It's good for us. It's a reminder
of sin and so forth. But we're still not providing
for ourselves. The job you have. Some of you know how. Fragile
they can be, don't you? I worked on the railroad. A friend
of mine had worked there for... A better illustration, Brother
John Sheehan is right there. How long did you work for J.P.
Stephen? How many? 32 years. How long did you...
33? 36! How long did you have to retire?
How many more years? Not long. About two or three
years. Lost his job. It can happen to anybody, can't
it? Who gave you the job? How does anybody get a job? Bread. Where does bread come
from? Do we provide bread? It's the same as the children
of Israel that got manna from heaven. It seemed more miraculous
to them, didn't it? It just came out of the sky.
I woke up in the morning and there it was. What do we have
that we have not received? Everything has been provided
for. We don't provide anything for it, nor do we earn anything. We don't earn... I almost quoted
that passage in Genesis 3 wrong. I said, I almost quoted it where
God told Adam, by the sweat of your face, you'll earn your bread.
We don't earn bread. Bread's a gift. All things are
a gift. Paul, he said, I labored more
abundantly than everyone. Paul worked harder than any of
the apostles, he said. Yet he said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. We teach our children. We teach
our children to perform chores and so forth, to work,
don't we? We should. We don't. They should
carry a load around the house. They should be taught that early
on. But yet, they're not earning their bread, are they? My mother, oh, I thought she
was laying on me the heaviest chores. of anybody in the house,
you know, I thought, oh, my, I had to sweep the basement floor
every Saturday. It took about 30 minutes. And
I thought, she is being hard and cruel to me. I could be out
playing, you know, I could be doing so, oh, my. Not only was it not hard and
long and laborious, but I didn't earn my bread. What if I hadn't
done it? Would I have still had something
to eat? No. You're teaching them a lesson.
So it is with us. We don't earn our bread. We don't
provide for our families. Men, do you remember this? No. Sam, the disciples still
had families at home. You reckon they were more worried
now than then? They'd lost their fishing business. You ever think about that? They
still had to take care of their beat-up wife and probably children. John, Jane, huh? You ever think
about that? They were probably more worried
now that they were out of a job than before. Now back to the text here. I
think all that may be said in our comfort. Remember that? Disciples
forgot it so soon. And you and I will, too. We don't
remember that. You don't provide for yourself.
We do not provide for ourselves. And we don't earn our bread.
All right. Now, verse six, the Lord who
only spoke, now the Lord only spoke when necessary. Scripture says a wise man studied
to answer. He is wisdom. He only spoke when
necessary. And when he spoke, you better
listen. Right? This is not a man here.
This is God made. And he said, after a little silence
or a little while, take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Leaven. Now you and I have been
looking at leaven for a long time. Leaven is a small thing,
a hidden thing, a very small thing, hidden. Yeast is what
it is. A small hidden substance that greatly affects the whole
lump. Just a little leaven will leaven
the whole lump. Little leaven, little small substance, will
greatly affect a much larger, larger substance. And our Lord
said, you beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. What's that? Well, you know these things,
but I'm going to tell you again. A leaven of the Pharisees was,
number one, self-righteousness. They thought that by their morality,
by their good deeds, by their abstinence, by their whatever
it is, their Bible reading, by their attendance to religious
duties, by their all of this, by the way they dress, by the
way they look, by the way they talk, their piety and all that
they thought that God was pleased with them. They were establishing
their own righteousness or that is holiness with God. And when Isaiah 64, 6 says, all
our righteousnesses are filthy rags to God. You know this. You've been taught
this so many times. Your disciples have been taught
it. But the Lord brings it up again. Doesn't He? And I told you last week that
Pharisees and Sadducees were everywhere. These were men at
their best state. These were religious people.
They looked the part. You could spot them coming. They
looked real religious. Have you ever seen anybody like
that? Our Lord said, all that they
do, they do to be seen of men. He said, don't do that, don't
do anything be seen of men, beware. And a little bit of that, leaven
the whole lump. And self-righteousness, pride,
the thing that God Almighty hates worse than anything is pride.
Because, I already quoted, what do we have that we have not received?
Everything we have is by grace, our knowledge, our gifts, our
talents, our whatever it may be, our jobs, our provision. Everything is by the grace of
God, a gift. And to be proud of anything,
the Scripture says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
and not the strong man glory in his strength. Let not anybody
glory in anything about themselves, but let him that glorieth glory
in the Lord, who gave us all these Pride is a thing that God hates the most.
Guile. Guile. That means trickery, subtlety,
you know, doing things in an underhanded way to try to manipulate
and so forth. Pharisees were full of this and
the Lord said, beware hypocrisy. I told you and noted to you how
that they had the Lord called the Pharisees hypocrites every
time he mentioned their names and hypocrites. Meaning they
were acting apart, they would be in what they were not and
on and on traditions and so forth. And these are things that we're
prone to. These are things that our natural
man is prone to. The Pharisees were real interested
in what everybody thought about. Our Lord says, you beware. Don't care so much about what
people think about you is what God says. He that commendeth himself is
not wise. Comparing themselves with themselves, they're not
wise. So he says, take heed, take heed. The word heed means
to carefully consider, hear, beware, and beware. Beware means to watch out, examine.
You need to beware of something, be wary, watch out. Take heed,
beware. Now, folks, let me say this just
as tenderly and as compassionately as I can. We see people everywhere
that seem to be zealous for God and seem to be sincere, don't
we? And people have all these signs
of religion, you know, all over themselves and all of their automobiles
and dress a certain way and all of that. This is what Paul said about
his Jewish, pharisaical brethren. He said, I bear them record that
I have a zeal for God. First he said, John, he said,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. But he said, they're ignorant.
Ignorant. They're going about to establish
their own righteousness, and God doesn't look on that stuff.
God doesn't see as man see. God looks on the heart. That's on the heart. And do not
be impressed with outward piety. Don't do it. Don't do it. They didn't recognize
holiness in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's true holiness. Jesus
Christ. The only holy man that ever lived.
And they called him a glutton and a wine-dipper. Well, he said, take heed and
beware. Now, verse 7, they reasoned among themselves. Now, that's
all wrong right there. They reasoned among themselves.
Man's reasoning is all wrong. Natural man's reasoning is wrong
and ridiculous. If we reason among ourselves,
what do you think about it? Somebody asked you that what
you think about it. You ought to say you're asking the wrong person.
Or you ought to say what does it matter what I think about
it. But does God say that? What has
God already said about it? But they reasoned among themselves
and our reasoning is ridiculous at the time. They said it was. He was dealing with it about
something very serious. Soul matters. Spiritual matters.
And they say we didn't take any bread. It's because we didn't take bread. Because you brought no bread.
Now these disciples had the clearest displays of God's care and provision
for them, God's love and Christ's care for them. They had the clearest
displays of that. They lived for three and a half
years on the Lord's provision. They saw him provide for them
every day. These weren't isolated instances,
folks. The 5,000 being fed and the 4,000
and so forth. Every day for three and a half
years, the Lord provided for them. They never worked a job.
Now, there was times when they went out, as I said, preaching,
and people would have them in their homes to eat. Well, who
told those people to have them in their homes? The Lord did. He worketh all
things. He's in control of all things,
all people, all things. And they had the clearest displays
of that, and they had the most light and understanding. They
walked with the Lord for three and a half years. He spoke with
them for twenty, well, sixteen hours a day. And yet they showed
very little fainted. They sought to comfort us. Faith, what is faith? Faith is
belief, trust, reliance upon God in Christ. Faith is confidence,
dependence upon God in Christ. I say in Christ because nobody's
ever seen God, nobody's ever heard God, nobody ever will,
but everyone deals with God through Christ. He's the only mediator
between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. It's confidence,
dependence upon God in Christ for everything, especially salvation. We're going to get to God someday.
It's going to be because Christ is going to take us there. It's
because Christ brings us, because Christ provided all things for
us. And faith is dependence upon God in Christ. And faith cometh
by hearing, doesn't it? Mary, I ought to call on you
to quote that in the Women Are Allowed speech. You know that
verse, don't you? Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Hearing by the word faith cometh
by hearing the word of God. Now our Lord often said to them
and to us, let these sayings sink down in your ears. Robin,
let these sayings sink down in your ears. Hebrews 4 says don't
let them slip. Let them sink down in your ears.
Kelly, did you ever tell that to your sons and daughters? Now
you listen to what I'm saying. Did you? Listen to me now. Are
you listening? the Lord said. Let these sayings
sink down in your ears. He that hath ears, let him hear. Faith cometh by hearing. Faith
is reliance, confidence, assurance, trust, dependence upon, belief
in our God in Christ provide all things. We ought to have
full assurance. Not only bread, I mean, that's
the least I mean. As long as you're alive, Sam,
you're just there to that tonight. I'm talking to you. You're listening.
Well, that's one. As long as you're alive, is Kelly
going to like for anything? Come on now. As long as it's
within your earthly power. Our God says, I live. I'm alive forevermore, because
I live. You live also. That's why I said you'll never
be begging. Now, that's the least thing.
All right? That's the least thing. Trust,
dependence on Him. What about salvation? We get
concerned about our salvation, the believer gets concerned about
salvation. We ought to have full assurance
if we're trusting Christ. If we're looking to Christ, we
ought to have full assurance. If you're looking to yourself,
you won't find any reason to believe that you're a believer. Nowhere. You look within, like
old John Newton wrote, when I look within all is wild and dark and
vain and sinful and wretched, it's like that. And when you
look within the scriptures, scripture tells man what he really is,
tells us, God's people, reveals to us what we really are. And
it's like the scripture says, a man beholding himself in a
glass. And I told you about that magnifying
mirror that my wife bought me. I still wish you hadn't bought
one. But I still look at it. You know what I see every day?
More and more wrinkles. More and more blemishes. More
and more flaws. Don't look in the magnifying
glass and expect to see yourself improving. You won't do it. You won't do it. Don't look in
this Word and expect it to tell you good things about yourself.
It won't do it. It says wonderful things. It's also a two-sided
mirror in it. We see Christ, the face of Christ
throughout all this. And there's no blemish in Him.
And the more you look closely, the more you see that. Without spot, without blemish. Faith is dependence on him. Faith is understanding. He said,
look at this, verse 9. I like that. He said, do you
not yet understand? Yet, after all this time, don't
you yet understand? Don't you yet understand? After
all this time? And do you not remember, verse
9, neither remember This is all our problem in these two words.
Ignorance or not understanding and forgetful. Forgetful. You know, we can remember
the most trivial, ridiculous, worthless, temporal things, can't
we? We can remember, you know, whatever. And forget vital. And I thought about this. I am
so thankful. Why do you think I read Psalm
103? Do you now know why we read Psalm 103? Huh? Bless the Lord, O my soul. And
forget not all His benefits. But we do. But we do. And we go a while, and we act
like we don't understand a thing. But aren't you glad that the
Lord remembers our praise? Aren't you glad that the Lord
remembers our praise, that we're dust, that we're how quick will
you forget? The Lord, you know, they needed
to be rebuked, didn't they? Gently rebuked. Do you not yet
understand after all this time, don't you? understand yet what
I'm trying to put you to try what he told them over and over
again or didn't try to tell anything. Do you not yet understand what
I've been telling you all this time? No, they didn't. And another
time he said, How long must I bear with you? As long as it takes. And do you not remember? Don't
you remember anything? I just fed The seven loaves and
a few fish, don't you remember that? And, you know, we've seen miracle
after miracle of God providing for us. And not only has the
Lord provided for us, but provided abundantly. He said, how many
baskets did you take out? What did you have left over? Now here's the problem. Think
about this. I'm going to quit. We're so spoiled. We have so very much. This is
a problem. And the thought of losing some
of our abundance or excess now worries us. Back when we had very, very little.
Every married couple in here knows what I'm talking about.
You started out you had very very little bit but you weren't
worried. I remember not having a car at
all. I remember not having a car at
all. And my chief mode of transportation was You'll do that, Mike? I guess it's against the law
now, but anyway. I remember a bicycle or whatever.
Now we have two. What are we going to do? One of them, weren't we? We were
talking about this the other day, weren't we, Ron? Oh, my. What would we do? What do you
mean by what you do? That's the problem. Yes, so very
much. And our Lord said in closing,
he said in verse 11, how is it? So they had baskets left over.
So how is it that you don't do not understand that I speak it
not to you concerning bread? That you should beware of the
leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Not concerning
bread. That's not the concern. Bread. Forget about that. If the Lord
would go on, he'd say, quit worrying about that. You've never provided
one stick of bread. Not one. You've never provided anything.
Our children haven't. How much less have God's children?
Never. That's not the important thing.
That's not the needful thing. That's not what we ought to be
thinking about. Now they understand. Verse 12. Now they understand.
Then they understood how he bade them not beware of the leaven
of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Then they understood. When did
they understand? The Lord reminded them upon hearing the word of
the Lord. Faith cometh by hearing. They
need to be reminded again. Do you? Now, you're going to
walk out of here and I'm going to walk out of here in a man
of black fashion. And we're going to quickly forget.
But don't do that. That's the reason we ought to
be like the old cow, you know, bring up, cut it up, chew it
up. There's something left in it
to chew on. We're going to need it till Wednesday. Sunday. I live from Sunday to
Wednesday. Wednesday to Sunday. Worst day
of the time of the week for me is Wednesday from about two to
six. It's a dead song. Waiting to
get here. But, and they understood. After the Lord spoke to them
and reminded them, and that's how we'll understand. Isn't it,
Roy? That's how we'll understand when the Lord, through His Word,
speaks to us. Upon hearing the Word, be reminded.
Reminded of His past mercies, reminded of His past grace, reminded
of where we were, how little we had, where He found us, He
called us. For our salvation, we need to
be reminded where the Lord found us and what we were when He found
us. And we're really no different
than when he found us. We're saved by grace then as sinners,
and we'll be saved the day we die as sinners by the grace of
God. Same way. Where we were, the
beginning of our confidence, steadfast unto the end. And where
we are now, how far we've come, or that is how far he's brought
us. The pit from which we're digging and now the rock upon
which we stand. And the nothing that we had,
now the everything we have in Christ. And the nothing, the
provisions that we, well, very little that we had, that's all
we needed, wasn't it? Food and raiment, food and raiment,
that's all we needed. Now the abundance, baskets left
over. And don't worry, don't worry about bread. And aren't you glad, as I said,
the Lord knows our fame and remember. And aren't you glad, Brother
John, and listen to this, this is a good thing to close on.
Aren't you glad that he cannot remember The thing that we cannot
forget. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Our sin. David said, my sin is ever before
me. I can't forget it. God says,
I can't remember it. And sad to say, we can't seem
to remember. We forget, quickly forget. What
the Lord says, he'll never forget his covenant. The Lord remember with mercy
for his children, cannot forget his covenant, Scripture says.
We forget it. We forget it. So what's the lesson
to be learned here? Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all these things, all these things,
things, things, things, things, temporal things, let me add it
to you. Food and rain, that's all we need. What if everybody
in here lost their job? What if everybody in here lost
your home? They can't take our tents. Could we make it? Could we make
it, Stan? What Adam and Eve do? We've been provided for from
the cradle to the grave, when we didn't
have a stitch of clothing on. The Lord said, I girded you,
though you didn't know me. He didn't know me. And he said,
I'll carry you. And Isaiah 46, I'll carry you
to your hoary head. Well, who's going to provide
for me in my old age? indicative of modern America,
wealth and abundance that we have. It's
absurd. I saw this advertisement that's
advertising retirement. The fellow was asking, is a million
dollars going to be enough to retire on? Didn't you hear that? He said
he was worried. All he had was a million dollars. Folks, if you don't have a red
cent to your name, believe her, you will be provided. Don't you yet understand? Don't
you yet understand? Don't you remember? So let's not forget. We say,
let's ask the Lord to remind us of that. His goodness, his
mercy, his grace, his tender mercies to us and our Heavenly
Father provides for his children. All right, stand with me. Our Father, thank you for your
sure mercies, tender mercies of David. We live in such an
abundance and we ask your forgiveness for outing life. and Your mercies
and Thy love and kindness to us. Our ignorance, Lord, forgive
us our ignorance. Forgive us for thinking that
we provide for ourselves, but thinking that we must do this
and must do that without giving Thee all the honor and glory.
We do depend upon thee for all things, especially, especially
our salvation. Without thee, we can do nothing.
We are nothing. By thy grace, we are what we
are, have what we have, know what we know, can do what we
can do by thy grace and by thy spirit. So we give you all the
honor and glory for all things. And so thankful that our Father
pitieth us as his children and knoweth our frame. Lord, let
us not forget to remind us daily. We need to be reminded tomorrow
when these things cause us anxiety and worry. Bring these things
to remember. Let us meditate again on Thy
Word. Give us faith. We have such little
faith. Cause us to grow in faith. It's
in Christ's name we're met here tonight and ask these things
and to worship. Amen. you. you