It's my song. Are you enjoying our new piano?
I am. Tremendously. In Deuteronomy 9 verse 7, that
first line is the title of this message. Deuteronomy 9 verse
7, remember and forget not. Remember and forget not. More
than twenty times More than twenty times in the
book of Deuteronomy alone. The Lord tells us to remember and warns us, forget not. More than twenty. Gives us five
times in Deuteronomy 8. Five times. He gives us blessings we need
to remember. Bless the Lord. I quote Psalm
103 a lot, don't I? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not His benefits. That's the purpose of this message,
so that we might remember the blessings of the Lord. And then
there are dire warnings, dire warnings. We should have read
that passage. Indeed, I hope we did. Read it
with fear and tremble. Blessed is the man who trembles
his Word. Dire warnings about forgetting
God and the reason, the prominent reason why we do. Did you notice
that? Okay, let's look at it. Verse
1, he says, "...all the commandments which I command thee this day,
all, shall ye observe to do, that ye may live and multiply." live and multiply, commandments
I give thee." Now, we talked about this Wednesday night, didn't
we? We talked about these very things,
Wednesday night. Eternal life is not in us doing
anything. Eternal life is in the doing
and the dying of Jesus Christ. Those are short words for His
righteousness and shed blood, His doings and dyings. That's
what one old writer used to say, His doings, it's all in His doing
and dying. Salvation, eternal life, is in
what Jesus Christ did for us, His doings and His dying. But do you remember, He talked
about life more abundant. I hear it says multiply. Joy. My joy. Talked about peace. Peace of
God and peace from God. You remember that? In Matthew
11, he talked about rest. Come unto me, all ye who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me. I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest. for your soul. Two different
types of breath. Abundant life. Blessings of this
life. We want to do more than just
exist in this life, don't we? We want the life of Christ. We
want to abide in Him. Terry, I was amazed by that passage
you were reading. I think in light of these verses,
it came out more clearly to me than ever. Christ talked about the man of
John 6, eating the manna, which is himself. He said, you'll live.
You abide in me and you'll live. Eat this and you'll live, never
die. Abundant life and the blessings of this life have something to
do with obedience to Christ's word. We talked about guilt, shame,
poverty, weakness. Stunted growth to the careless
and indifferent. The disobedient. But here he
says, eat or observe and you may live. Same thing, eat, digest. When you eat something, really
eat it, digest it, it comes out, it has energy. Well, let's look
back at chapter six. Look at these commandments. He
said, all the commandments which I command thee do. observed to do that you may live
and multiply. Let's look back and see some
of these things that he gave, all right, briefly. Deuteronomy
6, look at verse 1. Now, these are the commandments,
the statutes, judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to
teach you, that you might do them in the land whether you
go to possess it. Now, that thou mightest that thou mightest fear the Lord
thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I
command thee, thou, and thy son, thy son's son. Oh, may the Lord
teach my daughter in the fear of the Lord. All the days of
thy life, that thy days may be prolonged, hear therefore, Israel,
and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that
you may increase mightily as the Lord God of thy fathers hath
promised thee in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
Now thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Is this law binding on us? This
is one of the Lord's commandments. Is this binding upon us that
we want to be under the dominion of this law? Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart, with all thy soul. Do you want to
love the Lord with all your heart? Yes. Most certainly. Not to be saved
by. But to live life more abundantly,
the life of God, the life of Christ, love the Lord thy God.
And one old fellow said, One love cancels without another.
Love God, your love and passion for other things will diminish.
I want that. Don't you? I want that. I read on. Verse six, and these
words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart.
Words in thine heart. God's word. David said, God's
word to me when I found him was the joy and rejoicing of my heart. It wasn't just a little verse of
scripture that I memorized and quoted every now and then or
heard preached at the funeral. or when we got in trouble or
before a ball game. It was the joy and rejoicing
of my heart, the word, God's word in our heart shall be in
thine heart. Verse seven, and thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children. This is a command. Here we have
a man up here with his little daughter here. How old is Anna,
Red? Four. How old is Lauren? Mary, how old is Laura? Four, okay. She acted like she
forgot. Four years old. And you have
them sitting here. That's what the Lord said to
them. He commanded this. That's His
law. And those who are even younger...
You know how many babies are down in that nursery right now?
It's a fifteen by thirty nursery. With how many beds do we have
now? Four? Four beds? Boy, there's one little precious
bundle down there. One little red-headed bundle
down there. And that whole nursery's worth it.
So this woman can sit up here and hear the gospel. Right? What the Lord said do. This is
there bring up look at it teach them diligently under that children.
Talk of them when our citizen nine house what house is that
well at home but if we're not going to do that I know a house
where he can we talk about. I know a place where we can bring
them and they go here and talk about. When you sit down. When you walk by the way, when
thou lies down, when thou rises up. This is a good thing, you're
doing a good thing. I was my father's son, my mother's
beloved, that's what Proverbs 4 said, dearly beloved in my
father's eye, Hannah. I was loved by my father and
mother, and they taught me. They had me sitting This little girl's in just about
every service we've ever had. She may think it hard at times.
Some may think it cruel. But so was I. And now here I
stand. And there my sister stands. And that's where I want to stand.
And that's where I want her to stand. And so I'm going to teach
her from a child the scriptures that are able, there ain't nothing
else able to make her wise unto salvation. Ain't nothing else
going to save that girl of yours, Stephen, or that boy there, is
it? Nothing. Have them here. That we have
that down there. And you did it, and I'm thankful,
I'm glad. This is what the Lord commands us, that it may be well
with that. Well, there's your boy, John. There he is. Did you resent it
at one time, Dad making you go to church? Sure he did. There he sits, John, loving the
gospel. The Lord's true to his word. He doesn't have to save all of
them, but he'll honor his word. He's true to his word. All the
commandments that the Lord thy God that I commend thee. Observe to do, and you'll live."
You've never enjoyed that son like you are now, have you? Never. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless
the Lord. My, my, my. A son and a brother,
the greatest of blessings. All right, we're back to the
Look at verse thirteen. Look on there. Here's a few more.
We could keep reading. Verse thirteen. Thou shalt fear
the Lord thy God, serve him. Fear. Serve. Shalt swear by his
name. What that means is the Lord himself
came down and said that thou shalt not swear by anything on
earth or heaven. What he's saying here is like
James said. We should say the Lord willing. That's what it
means. That's what he means there. The
Lord willing will do such and such. That's what that means.
I'm going to do that. Oh, wait a minute. The Lord willing, I'll
do that. Verse 14, you shall not, this
is a commandment, you shall not go after other gods. The gods
are the people around about you. There's no God, small g. Let
them have them, huh, Joe? I'm not going after them. What
they're having a countywide meeting, religious meeting, all the churches
are getting together. It's a praise Jesus movement.
Let them have them. I don't want that old Jesus. I'm not going. Are you? That's exactly what this is talking
about. A little closer to home, though,
he said that covetousness is idolatry. Going after anything
or anyone instead of God. Let nothing become your God,
even those children. Don't dare let the children keep
you from worshiping God. All right. And the commandment,
people, listen to this statement. Turn over to chapter eight now.
The commandment to leave all, listen as I say this. The commandment to leave all. and follow Christ is no less binding or demanding
upon us than it was the apostles. Is it? No. He hath made us kings and
priests unto God. ministers of him, stewards of
his grace, and it is required of a steward he be found faithful. Now, listen to this. Peter said,
Lord, behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall
we have therefore? Now, Peter kept his house. Remember? That's where his mom
and his wife and his mother-in-law stayed, and they ate there. The
Lord ate there quite a bit. He didn't say he sold his house,
but he left it. It was as if he had forsaken
it to follow Christ. It went with him. And Christ said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, that you which have followed me in the regeneration,
when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel, and everyone They have forsaken houses, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land. For my namesake shall receive
an hundredfold, shall inherit everlasting life." A hundredfold. That's life more abundant. A
hundredfold. And last but not least, last
is first in eternal life. Everlasting life. And so the
commandment to leave all and Christ said except you forsake
all that you have. Follow me you cannot be my son. Christ said. He said any man
come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow
me. It's no less binding on all of
his disciples than it was the apostles. It's the cost of discipleship. That's the reason he tells us,
sit down and count the cost. Are you willing to do without?
There's plenty of men out there, eligible bachelors. Are you willing
to do without a husband? For a while, anyway. Maybe indefinitely. that you might marry your maker
and your maker is your husband you will do that a lot is not
more eligible ladies out there John lot more. You look willing to forsake a
wife and to be married to Christ he's a lot more faithful. And so on and so forth. We could
go on and on with that. So the command to leave all and
follow Christ is no less demanding from binding, but boy, he's a
good, he's a good master. He does not require of us more
than he knows we're able. And he said, one of the old writers,
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry said, and he's a liberal paymaster. He's a liberal paymaster. In
other words, he pays big bonuses. The wages he gives for what little
bit of labor or sacrifice in his service, he's a liberal paymaster. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Wealth that can never be told. Someday we have traded. We traded dung. What did we give
up? What did we give up for that
pearl of great pride? Nothing. Zero. Trash. Dung. That's what Paul
said. I count it all but stuff. done
with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things." And there's a man that
really did. I mean actually, literally. Did he suffer? Did he lose? Oh my. And he doesn't require
us necessarily to give everything away or all of it, but he comes
first. In that sense, in that sense,
is that unreasonable? No, it's not reasonable, sir.
Read verse 2. He said, Man, thou shalt remember
all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years.
All the way the Lord hath led thee, Henry, these sixty years. Going on seven now. All the way
the Lord hath led thee these fifty-some years. Going on 60. All the way the Lord hath led
thee. I'll call somebody else, Rebecca.
These 40 years, Deborah. These 40 years, going on 41.
All the way the Lord hath led thee, thou shalt remember. God
led thee, he said, in the wilderness these 40 years. This world is
called a wilderness to God's people. It is. They say it's
a jungle out there. It is. It's a wilderness. It's
a desert place wherein there's no water, no food for the spiritually
hungry. But look at it. Read on. He says,
He did this to humble you. He did this to humble thee. And it ought to, if we remember
all the way He's led us, it'll humble us. You think back on
past mercies, Jeanette. Think back Rebecca, think back
on your life. You're in that 40-something group.
Think back on your past life, all the blessings of God, how
he's led you all this way, given you a husband that loves Christ,
four fine children. Think back on it, all the way
he's led you. It ought to humble you, shouldn't
it? More than anything, shouldn't
that humble us before God, make us thankful? Because we know
that none of us are worthy of it. Rebecca, why are you sitting
there with healthy children and not down in Africa crying over
your starving baby? God made you to differ. It ought
to humble you, shouldn't it? And it has. To humble thee and
to prove thee, read on, to prove thee to know what was in thine
heart. What's in your heart? It better be the love of God
she had abroad. had ought to create and magnify
the love of God. Whether you, and this is proving
it, this is proving it, prove you what was in your heart, whether
you would keep his commandments or not. You see that? Whether you would keep his commandments
or not, that's proof. He said prove the sincerity of
your love, didn't he? Verse three, and he humbled you
and suffered deed of hunger. There was a time when Everybody
in here was without God without Christ without hope without knowledge
of the gospel hungry. Starving in the wilderness suffered
you to hunger. Gave you a hunger. And you were
hungry before you even knew it. Thought you were full. And then
he gave you a hunger. What caused you to one day hunger
after the truth? What caused you, Joe, to say
there's got to be something more than that when you were down
at that other place? What caused you to sit on the
bed? Remember that? You've told me that, Nancy. Joe
came back from one of those Sunday night wrestling matches or whatever
business meeting and sat on the bed and said, there's got to
be something more than this. Cause you to hunger. Joe, there's
some fellas that stayed there. There's some fellas still there.
And satisfied. Who gave you the hunger? Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Now, he
said, I'm going to fill them up. Does it get any better than this?
Joe said, it's got to be better than this. It's got to be something.
Does it get any better than this? I don't see how it could this
side of heaven. I really don't. He does. He suffered you to hunger,
Joe. Why? Oh, that that manna, look
at it, fed you with manna. God-sent manna. What's this? That's what the word manna means.
When that manna came, he said, what is it? That's what the word
means in the Hebrew. Manna. They were asking the question,
Stan. They weren't naming it. manner.
That's what they named manner. When you heard the gospel for
the first, what's this new doctrine? What's this? And you say that
Henry, what is this manner? This is God's gospel. That's
what this is. You ain't heard it before because
God didn't send it yet. And now You get God's food, angel's
food, which things angels desire to look into. You get to eat
it. And they said when they ate that manna, it was like a wafer.
It was sweet to the taste. Manna. Gave you manna. Fed you
with manna, which you knew not. See that? You knew not this manna.
Neither did your fathers know. Did your father know this gospel,
Henry? Your? Your, Joe? Terry? If I know this guy. John. Why you don't. Oh. Forget not only. Remember all the way which the
Lord my God let he said his love and affection on you you better
man in your day. Oh my. Why you don't. Even so Lord it seemed good enough.
Sovereign mercy. No other answer to this. Sovereign
mercy. Sovereign grace. Fed you of manna you know not,
and your fathers didn't know, that he might make thee to know,
read on, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of the Lord doth man live. Man doth not live by bread alone.
Let me reread this article in the bulletin for you, OK? I think it's worth remembering. Someone commented on it, this
article on our daily bread last week. Someone commented on it,
and I just couldn't help but wonder to myself if they heard
it, but I couldn't help but wonder if they were doing it. If they
actually were doing what's said. It sounds good. It, it, it, uh, it lives even
better. We can live without bread for
a day. Yay, many days. Moses went 40 days without bread.
Elijah went, our Lord went. In fact, there can be definite
benefits from going without physical bread. But man can't live. He can't live. Without Christ,
without feeding on the bread, you can't live. You just exist. You can exist without that bread,
but you won't have abundant life. One can have no spiritual vitality,
energy, or strength by going without his or her daily portion
of manna. The manna of God's Word is a
glorious gift, but it has to be gathered. You remember that? The manna
came down. How'd they get it, Vicki? How'd they get it? Did
it just come in their houses and fill up their plates? No.
They went out and gathered daily. One must glean for himself in
Boaz's barley field. Ruth and Naomi would have gone
hungry, wouldn't they? If Ruth hadn't gleaned in Boaz's barley
field, how much did she come home with? Oh, he's Boaz. It's Boaz's field we're talking
about now. Just a little under is all it
takes. A little bit of gleaning is all it takes to come home
with a basket full. Ruth will say, where'd you glean
today? I think his name was Boaz. Sons of Jacob. Remember that
story? Joseph's brethren. Our heavenly
ruler is on the throne and he's got some storehouses. We'll bring a little sack. You
feel it? Our Lord feeds a little bird,
doesn't He? This bird is a bird feeder right
outside my study window now. I delight. I just love to feed
those birds. Well, I just love to feed, with
the exception of maybe mullet. Go up that grain. I love to see
those birds eating that food. It delights me. I don't mind
a bit filling it up all the time. If they'll come and eat it, as
much as they want to eat it, I'll fill it. I love to see them
eat it. And what I get in turn, I enjoy
them and I hear a little song every now and then. So it's like
they say, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. The Lord said, open up your mouths
and I'll fill them. I make much of this time together
on the Lord's Day and the midweek service because we get a multi-course
meal prepared, already prepared. Come, all we say is come and
dine, all things are ready, but the rest of the time, day in
and day out, We blame first. Do not wonder. If we are weak
and sickly. Without our daily bread. Do not
wonder. If we don't grow in grace and
the knowledge of the Lord. Without our daily bread. Do not
wonder if we're weak in faith. If we do not eat. Our daily bread. Faith cometh by. Word of the. Principal means of gathering
God's word is reading it how do you gather God's word. Read
on a man take this role and even. Know what he said. In this role
and. And it should. It should. And there are other ways, tapes,
messages, tapes, I just can't emphasize, you know, tapes, but
don't usurp, many people do that, usurp the actual preaching, the
tape message. Conversation with other brethren,
fellowship with the saints, a good way, as long as the conversation
at some point comes around to something profitable, it's a
good way to gather a little manner. Because they've gathered something
maybe you haven't. Let me show you something, brother, that
I saw. Listen to this, what I heard. They gather something. Somebody
hand-feeds you. So do as the Lord taught us and
start each day by asking. The Lord teaches us to pray,
all right? Pray this way. Give us this day
our daily bread. Not bread alone. Man doesn't
live by that. But by every word. You see that?
I'm talking about Terry. Christ wasn't talking about bread.
It was in John 6. Talking about him. And who is
he? He's the Word incarnate. Be ye hearers of that Word and
doers. OK? Doers. Eat that manna. Eat it. Man lives, you live,
you live and multiply. People, listen, God's sheep hear
his voice. What is God's voice? He said,
my sheep hear my voice. They hear it. They love to hear
it. They've got to hear it. What is his voice? It's his word. He said, and they follow me.
He said he makes them lie down in green pasture. Makes them
lie down. He leadeth them beside the still
water. What's the next line? That's how you restore your soul. Huh? He's a good shepherd. That's
how your soul is restored. How? He makes you lie down in
green pasture. Martha, Martha! He makes you lie down in green
pastures, still waters. He restoreth my soul. I need daily restoration, don't
you? Daily restoration. Or I'll become
shipwrecked. This old ship needs restoration
every day. Every day. Fellowship and that. All right, I have to do this.
I've been wanting to use this verse of Scripture for a while.
Ezekiel 33. Turn over there. Ezekiel 33.
Turn over there. Ezekiel 33. Our Lord said. Over in Luke chapter six, listen. Listen, as I read this, you find
Ezekiel 33. Our Lord said in Luke 6, he said,
Whosoever cometh to me and heareth my sayings and doeth them, I'll show you who this man is
like. Whoever hears him and does him,
I'll show you who this man is like. He said he's like a man
which built a house, and the Scriptures talks about Build
it up yourselves on this most holy thing. He's like a man which
built a house and dig deep. He digged deep. You know what
that's talking about, Rick, don't you? Dig deep. Where are we digging? Where are
we digging? Where are we digging? He digged deep and laid the foundation
on a rock. You know how many yards of concrete
are in that footer under that study? Twelve. Twelve yards. We kept digging with that backhoe,
digging, digging, trying to find some solid ground. Couldn't find
it. Digging. That's fill back there. Y'all know that, don't
you? It's fill. We kept digging. Finally found some. But it's
on a rock. This building may fall, but it's
going to stay. It's on a rock. Well, he said,
man that digs deep, deep is the foundation. How firm a foundation,
ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent
word. What more can he say than to
you he hath said, to you who for Jesus, for refuge have fled. Your foundation will stand sure.
No other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid in
Christ Jesus. And he's a rock, but he dig deep. The best rocks, the diamonds,
are in the deepest mines. Coal, you don't get a lot strip
mining. But boy, in those deep shafts,
you get bucket loads. Rich veins. Dick deep, Christ
said. He digged deep and laid the foundation
on a rock when the flood arose. That's trials from here. The
flood arose and the stream beat vehemently on that house. Trials
and troubles beat that house. Could not shake it. Why? Held it on a rock. My hope is built on nothing less. Dig deep. But he that heareth
and doeth not is like a man without a foundation. Built a house on earth, streamed
deep vehemently, and immediately it fell. First big trial comes
along. Dig deep. Search the scriptures,
study to show yourself approved. It's a foundation. It's a foundation. Ezekiel thirty-three, and this
is such a, oh my. Ezekiel thirty-three, verse thirty.
A son of man, and I really believe this is talking about Christ
more than just a preacher. He was a preacher. A son of man,
the children Ezekiel 33, verse 30, "'Children of thy people
still are talking against thee, or about thee, by the walls and
the doors of the houses.'" Boy, he's a good preacher. Wasn't
that a good message? "'Speaking one to another, every
one to his brothers, come, I pray you, hear what's the word that's
coming forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as a
people coming, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear
thy words. they will not do them. But with their mouth they show
thee much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Lo, thou art unto them as a very
lovely song, and one that hath a pleasant voice can play well
on an instrument. They hear thy word, but they
do them not." That's sad, isn't it? All the commandments. which I command thee this day."
Moses was man. Scripture says he was the meekest
man on earth. But he stood up. If any man speak, they speak
as the oracles of God. Now what does it say? Moses said,
now y'all listen to me. They said, who are you think
you are, Moses? I'm nothing. I'm nothing. Who do you think
you are, John? I'm just a voice, but this is
what God said. all the commandments which I
command thee this day, shall ye observe to do that ye may
live, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the Lamb,
possess the Lamb." All right, let's go on. There's good things
in here, isn't there? Look at verse 4. Remember now,
"...all the way the Lord thy God hath led thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, but fed you with manna." Verse four you weren't
Raymond wax not old. You know what that's talking
about don't you. Your Raymond what you close date what you
wear is a nice jacket thing I like that jacket like my jacket. It's going to rot. It's going
to rot and maybe in the chair and I want to get you another.
It's going to rot. All right. But if you're wearing
one That's eternal. That's the robe of Christ's righteousness.
It won't wax old. I tell you what, the older you
get, the more you appreciate it. The better it'll fit. Huh,
Joe? Is it fitting better now than
it was ten years ago? Fits you better. Fits you better. All right, wax
not old either. Is it just getting old to you?
Old hat? You know, an old hat really is
most common. I use that statement all the
time. I've got an old hat. You don't. All your hats are
brand new. I want one of them. Now, maybe you do. Henry does.
I've seen one of his old hats. But I've got an old hat that
probably Henry probably wouldn't even wear. It's an old, I got
it in Mexico. It's one of those hats that those
men down there where every one of the men, Mayan Indians, wear
that hat down there. You see that in your record,
that straw hat. It's all eaten up. I don't want to part with
it. It's soaked. It's like not wearing
air. It's got ventilation. Old hat. I'm not tired of that
old hat. It's getting more and more comfortable.
It's more and more comfortable. The gospel's getting like an
old hat in that good sense. It wears well. All this talk
of Christ's robe of righteousness, is it getting old? Oh, it's not
getting old. This coat here, Barbara and Charles
gave me this coat about four or five years ago. I don't know
where they got it. It wasn't theirs. It was used.
Somebody else broke it in for me. But it's been so comfortable.
The only navy blazer I have. And I appreciate it. Really,
it's the best one I've got. Most comfortable. And I'll tell
you something more comfortable than that. A lot more. The righteousness of Christ gives
me more comfort now than it ever has. It comforted my old sinful
heart when I first heard about it, and boy now, boy howdy, my
daddy said, boy howdy. Now, as I've sinned and sinned
and sinned and sinned like these Jews in the wilderness, provoked
Him, provoked Him, This old robe is not waxing old. It's wearing
well. I'm going to wear it all the
way into heaven, folks. It's how I'm going to get in.
It's the dress code of heaven, isn't it? Same robe. Same robe
I'm wearing now is what I'm going to wear then. It doesn't show
right now. It's going to show then. That's
the right thing. And look at this. It said, neither
did your foot swell these forty years. You know what that's all
about? What are you wearing on your
feet? What are you wearing? I've got
a pair of shoes here, and I bought these off of Barbara Ross. Every pair of shoes I own except
one I bought from Barbara. But these are the only pair of
dress shoes I have, and they wear well. Old wing tips. They may be out of style and
old-fashioned, but they wear well. They're comfortable. My
feet don't swell. They fit the leather. Real good
pair of shoes is leather. They bind your feet in real good. Keep them from swelling. And
my feet hadn't swelled yet. Well, Paul said in Ephesians
6, he said that we need to be shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace. Shod with it. Shod with it. Walk in it. Walk by faith in
it, in this gospel of Christ. Your feet won't swell, and your
head won't either. Your feet won't swell. These
shoes are wearing well, aren't they? Isn't this gospel wearing
well? Can't you walk more comfortably in it? Doesn't it give a little
spring to your step? The good news of Christ, sovereign
grace and mercy, doesn't it? Blood, righteousness. Feet don't
swell. Gospel still fits. It's the same
size, too. All right, read on, verse 5,
Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that as a man chasteneth
his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. If we be without it, we're as
bastards. And we sure need it. He sure needed it. Paul told young Timothy, he said,
now, you reprove and rebuke with all authority. Let no man
despise you. Because the word all scriptures
given by and Timothy your word is the inspiration of God and
all scriptures give my inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine
for reproof, for correction. I need correcting. Oh, how I
need correcting. Oh, how I need correcting. We
were doing something the other night, weren't we? We were putting some
printed matter together and what do we keep saying? What do we
keep hollering for? You remember? Pastor, give me
the... Whiteout. Hi, Rebecca. Anybody that types know what
whiteout is, don't they? Sherry, that's the whiteout.
Give me that whiteout. Give me that whiteout. That's a bad blot here. Know what we say, Senator? Give me some of that whiteout.
Oh, my. Give me some more of that blood.
and righteous and that white white out. Blot out my transcription. Blot out my transcription. Chasten
me, Lord. I need you. I don't like to read verses of
Scripture like Ezekiel thirty-three, but do we need that? I need you. He chastens you as son. If you
be without it, you're a bastard. He'll leave you alone. I don't
chasten My neighbor's kid. OK, leave him alone. That's a cement. All right, read
on, therefore, thou shalt keep the commandment of the Lord thy
God to walk in his ways and fear him. Walk, fear, fear him, that
words all through scripture, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear,
fear, For the Lord thy God brings thee into a good land, a land
of brooks of water, water, land of water, fountains, depths that spring out of valleys
and hills, wheat, barley, vines, fig tree, pomegranates, olive
oil, honey, bread without scarceness." Where is this land? Where has
he led us? Is this talking about heaven? We're in that Canaan land. It's where he led you. Remember,
Nancy Parks, all the way your Savior led you from being a self-righteous
religious woman lost as a goose in a snowstorm and brought you
into Fair Canaan. And veggie. Olive oil. Honey. Water. Bread without scarcity. Ever missed a meal? Ever failed
to get something? Bread. Here. Bread. You did there,
didn't you? Remember. Don't forget. You. Yeah, you. Don't forget. You. Did not leave you to yourself. You. Don't forget. You. Me. Now look at what will cause it.
This is what will cause us to forget. Verse ten. When we're eaten and are full,
then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which
he hath given thee. When we're eaten and full. Maybe
that's the way we ought to pray at meals after we eat. Maybe, I don't know, that's what
it says here. Nevertheless, you know, folks, the time to worship
God is a time of prosperity, isn't it? Everyone in here is
prospering. Yeah. This is a time more than
any other than we ought to be worshiping, shouldn't we? And
we are. Here we are. I'm glad. I'm thankful. We ought to be.
It's our reasonable service, shouldn't we? Psalm one oh seven
he says it several four times. Oh that men would pray praise
the Lord for his goodness and his wondrous works to the children
of men. But do you remember John where it says that they got down
bad in trouble and then they called on the Lord? Remember
that? It says that four times. They got in a bad way, they forgot
him, and then they called on him and he answered them. And
he does. That's who he is. He's faithful.
Faithful God. But now's the time to bless him. Now's the time to bless him.
Boy, that grass is growing out there. You know, it's never failed,
Henry. When I plant grass, I used your
thing the other day, and I'll get it back to you. I've got
his cultivator. I've had it for a hundred years. But I'm going to get it back
to you. But my grass is growing, Henry. It's never failed. And
a fellow said to you the other day, he said it's not a good
time to plant, isn't it? That's what he said, this old dairy
farmer. He said, not a good time to plant now. My grass is growing
like weeds. Why? This has been the best grass
growing weather stand, hasn't it? It's just been pouring, just
been raining. Cool evening, sun come out. Nothing better for grass than
that. I may have green pastures out
there. We do have green pastures. And we're thankful. We're thankful. Now, this is a time to be thankful,
isn't it? Remember who gave it to us. That's
what it's all about. Got a good job. Boy, the money's
rolling in, the jobs and offers and things. I'm prospering. I got a new car now. Whoo! Man,
I'll be there first on Sunday. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Right? Read on. Beware, verse eleven, beware
that I forget not the Lord thy God, not keeping his commandments.
Bless, verse twelve, and thou hast eaten of her full, built
good houses, and dwelt therein. When thy herds and flocks multiply,
silver and gold, your heart be lifted up, and you forget the
Lord thy God that brought thee out. I asked you, I told you, I gave
you an assignment last Sunday morning, I believe it was, to
read Hebrews 2, 3, and 4. And I went back and read it all
myself, and as you can see, I've got all those verses, several
verses written down that we don't have time to look at. But they're
a perfect perfect relevant, what's the word? They perfectly
apply to us now. Hebrews 2, 3, and 4 and all the
way through the end warns us that the same thing will happen
to us. As it did the children of Israel,
there is not one way different. Same thing will happen to us
as it did. None of them will go in. None of them will go in if we
forget the Lord. And leave off doing his commandments,
which is thou shalt love the Lord thy God and worship him.
Number one. Let us fear. We read that this
morning, and let us fear. Lest there be a promise left
of us, any of you, any of us that seem to come short of it. Boy, he was close. So many years. So many years he followed. We've seen him, haven't we? Since
I've been here, I've seen him. I've seen some older folks. We
got close. He got close. And verses 19 and
20 there, it says, lest you perish like the world did. And it'll be worse, John. The
end will be worse for us than it will for them. You know what?
It'll be worse for you than it will the harlot in his dream. That's right. Seriously, this
thing, what we're doing is very serious, very serious, very serious.
That's a good passage over in Deuteronomy 8. Feds you with
manna. Your clothes didn't rot. Your
feet didn't sweat. But remember, forget not all
his benefits. Oh, Lord, remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom. Remember me. And cause me not
to forget. All right, I had a hand picked
out, Sherry. Where is it? Number 514. 514. You got to stand in order to march, don't
you? 514 was seen. Listen to the words, now. Come
we in thanks of the Lord, and let our joys be known. Join in a song with sweet accord. Join in a song with sweet accord. And thus surround the throne,
and thus surround the throne. Can you imagine surrounding that
throne? We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion. Upward to Zion, the beautiful
sea. And the only reason we can't
sing this now is because I hadn't seen, the ear hadn't heard. These
that have entered into the hearts of things have got to prepare
for them to love them. When we stand around that throne, It's going to be deafening. I'm
going to be singing and marching as I always say, we're here.
Let those who refuse to sing, who never knew our God, but children
of the heavenly King, may speak their joys abroad. All right, let's, let's, verse
three, I like this verse, let's sing that. The hill of Zion yields
a thousand sacred streets Before we reach the heavenly fields
Before we reach the heavenly fields Oh, walk the golden streets
Oh, walk the golden streets We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. Marching upward to Zion, the
beautiful city of God. Sing this with a smile on your
face. Then let our songs abound and every tear we dry. We're marching through Emmanuel's
land. We're marching through Emmanuel's
land. If there are worlds on high. If there are worlds on high. Sing it! Heavenly Father, put
us in that way, put us in our feet in that path, that straight
gate and narrow way. Put my feet, put my feet, put
John's feet. put Heather's feet, put Henry's
feet, put Roberta's feet, put Rebecca's feet, put Joe's feet,
put Nancy's feet, put Stan's feet, put our children's feet,
shot us with the gospel, lead us in paths of righteousness
for your name's sake, for your glory and honor, that we may
one day sing with the saints this glorious song, unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious
blood. is our prayer in Christ's name. Amen.