Both of today's messages have
been devoted to exhorting you to steadfastness in the faith,
to not, verse 35, cast away your confidence, but be patient under
the coming of our Lord, to examine ourselves whether we be in that
faith or not, have that saving faith. Verse 38 and 39 will serve
as a text tonight. Look at it. Now, the just shall
live by faith, but if any man draw back, any woman,
any young person draw back. God says, My soul shall have
no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul, and not of them who draw back. The word draw back,
that's the title of this message. No drawing back. That means to
turn away, turn back, to go back, no drawing back. And we need
this so much more as we see the day approaching,
the day of the coming of Christ. We need it now more than we did
this morning, because he is coming, draweth nigh. We need to exhort
one another now so much more as we see the day That's what
it says in verse 25, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together,
like this right here. I'm glad you're here. I'm very,
very thankful that some forsake this assembly, and I grieve for
them. But I'm glad you're here. I'm
most thankful that you're here. I'm glad that God has given you
a will and desire to be here. But we need to exhort one another,
it says, verse 25. Exhort one another so much more.
As you see the day approaching, that's the day of Christ's coming. Verse 37 says, A little while,
and he that shall come, he's coming. He will not tarry. Yet a little while, and he will
come. And we need to exhort one another. I've told you that story
several times. of my brother Don Bell and myself
walking up when we went to the Peaks of Otter. But it serves
so well as an illustration, I'll tell it to you again. Don had never seen the Peaks
of Otter. I'd never either. I'd never been all the way to
the top. I'd been to the bottom. I never did have much desire
to walk up there. And after I started, I wish I
hadn't. And I told him how beautiful
it was, and how I'd heard that the view from the top was just
really grand. I'd never seen it myself, and
I thought, we'll go up and we'll see it together. Now, this is
a picture, a type of how someday we're going to view from Mount
Pisgah's lofty heights. So we parked our cars, you know,
some of you have been up there, and started walking. The path
wasn't too bad. We started out, kind of a nice,
beautiful stroll stand. Nice little meandering path,
not too steep. You know, this is not bad. We're
going to enjoy this. About an eighth of a mile later,
you know, it started getting steeper and steeper and steeper.
And we started getting tireder, more tired. And Don is about
four or five years older than I am. He was about forty-one
or two then. And no spring chicken, in other
words. And he started huffing and puffing,
and I was too. And we walked a little ways,
and finally we came to the first sign. I said, this is fine, Don.
I can't do much further. Can't do much further, and we
walked, and we got to that first sign. You know, you've seen it,
haven't you? And it says, you've come one-eighth of a mile, you've
only got a mile and an eighth to go. Oh, man. Donnie says, you say
it really looks good, huh? It's worth it? I said, well,
that's what I've heard. I've never seen it personally,
but I've heard it's worth it. So we kept on, and he said, well,
we've come this far, we might as well go. Well, we went on
a little ways and walked about another eighth of a mile, and
I was ready to quit. I said, Donnie, it can't be that
good. And at any rate, the whole time
we were walking up that hill, he'd want to quit, and I'd want
to quit. If he'd want to quit, I'd say,
no, no, let's go on, let's go on. You know, I'd get my second
wind, and he'd be done for. and I'd exhort him. We're almost there now. We're
almost there. Let's keep going. We go a little
further, and then I'd give out, and he'd give his second wind.
And he'd have to exhort me, well, we might as well go on. And you know, when we got to
the top, it was worth it. We forgot all about the climb.
We were in sheer ecstasy viewing that It was such a beautiful
day. The wind was blowing. It always
blows up there, doesn't it? But it was so beautiful. I'd
never seen such a sight. And we had such a glorious time
talking about that walk up and that view and relating that to
spiritual things when we get to glory. You know how the path
to upward, heavenward, is a difficult road at times—rocky and tough
and steep. But the view, when we see him,
it will be worth it all. The psalm said it will be worth
it all, and you'll forget. You won't even remember the climb.
You won't remember it. But in the meantime, we need
to exhort one another. No. We all get in these feigning
fits, and we want to quit. We all get down, you know. And
say, I'm just going to quit. What's the use? What's the use?
And we need to exhort one another. Come on now, you've come this
far. It can't be much further. Henry's sixty-some years, but
it's not far at all. Don't quit now. Don't quit now. And you're going to have to turn
around and tell me that someday. Right? Don't quit now. And that's what—and
we need to do that to one another so much more as we see that day
rapidly approaching. No amount of exhortation will
stir up somebody who doesn't really know and believe Christ. The Lord is going to have to
do that. But to you believers, I hope this word is sent to you.
Look at verse 23. Go back to the beginning. He
says, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. He is faithful, they promise.
There are some people in here, and I rejoice that you profess
to know Christ, and I believe it's evident that some of you
do. You believe Christ, you know
him, you believe he's your righteousness before holy God, your substitute,
your great high priest, your intercessor. You believe him.
You know whom you have believed, and you believe in your heart,
and you really have seen Christ So the scripture comes to you. Let's hold fast, then. Let's
hold fast the profession of our faith. Don't let go of him. Be
like Jacob, okay? Ellen, you just be like Jacob,
all right? Don't let go. Don't let go until he blesses
you. And he will, very shortly. Very shortly. He already has,
hasn't he? But oh, he's going to bless you
immensely. I haven't seen him. Ellen, you've
been around a long time. You've seen some things. You
have not heard. You've heard some things. You've
heard some glorious messages. You're just about to hear his
voice. Don't quit now, Ellen. Don't
quit now, okay? Hold fast. Hold fast, and I'm
sure glad that he's holding on to you. Hold fast. He's faithful,
but promised he can't lie. He can't lie. So hold fast. He said, I'll in no wise cast
you out, no wise. And he'll save you and keep you
from falling. And you know, although we are
exhorted to steadfast, we are exhorted to steadfastness because
we're responsible. We're responsible. But you're going to find out
in the end when it's all over with that the only reason you
held on because he's holding on to you. You know? That's the
reason we're going to be singing under him. Under him. That's
the reason. Not unless we didn't have anything
to do with it. But as far as we're concerned
right now, you hold on. Hold on, Henry. Hold fast. Don't
let go. But if you don't let go, buddy,
it'll be because he's got a hold of you. Come on. That'll be the
reason. And he said there are two immutable
things, and it's impossible for him to lie, two immutable things
that ensure your salvation. His covenant and his oath. His covenant, said that in Hebrews
6, two immutable things, unchangeable things. He made a covenant ordered
in all things, an everlasting covenant concerning you when
he elected you before the foundation of the world. and sent Christ
and did everything necessary for your salvation. That covenant,
and wrote your name on the breastplate of our high priest, Christ, gave
you to him in that covenant. And you're not as sure for heaven
as if you're already there. You are there. You're seated
with him in heaven. If Christ is there, Barbara,
and your name is in his breastplate, you're there. You're there. And it's impossible for him to
lie. He said, I give my word on it, my oath, my covenant,
those two things. So hold fast. That's your hope,
and you've got a good hope. You've got a good hope. Hold
fast to Christ. Read on, verse 24 and 25, and
let us consider one another to provoke unto love. Oh, sadly, we provoke one another. to anger too much. We need to start maturing a little
bit to where we'll provoke one another to love and bear one
another's burdens. A man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such a one. Spirit of meekness,
considering yourself, the scripture says, on and on, things like
that. We need to provoke one another.
That provoke means to urge, to make somebody love you. To make
somebody love you, we'll have to. We'll have to do something
to get them in the notion to love us, because we're not very
loving. But let us consider one another. Provoke unto love and
to good works. And what we did last night, It cements those relationships.
You can't put a premium on that, Henry. You just can't put a premium
on it. And I mean this. I wouldn't have taken anything
for that. I wouldn't have wanted to have been anywhere else, with
anybody else. It cements... I feel closer to
these people right here as a result of that night. We had some good
conversation, didn't we, Stan? Lord, don't let anything... come
between us, come between or do anything to that relationship.
But these things provoke, they provoke us to love one another,
consider one another. I told Brother Henry in the study,
in verse twenty-five, read on. He says, Not forsoaking the assembling
of ourselves together, whenever, wherever, whatever, especially
this, Truly, our fellowship is right here. This is what it's
all about. This is where we know one another,
and this is where we're going to get the greatest blessing.
This is where we really feast together, gathering manna together,
gleaning in the fields, Ruth and Naomi, at the feet of our
Boaz. This is it. But whenever and
wherever we have opportunity to get together, don't. We need to take advantage of
that, of that opportunity. Assemble ourselves together.
He said where two, where? Anywhere. Two or three are gathered
together. Doesn't have to be a formal building
like this, does it? Where two or three are gathered
together. And like I said, you can't put a premium on those
on times together, I told Brother Henry in the study, I said, you
know, we need to, we need as the years go by, each year, we
need to grow closer and closer to one another. Our relationship
should be closer than it was last year, Brother Henry. We
should be spending more time with one another than we did
the year before, if we're growing in love to one another, right?
Like I was saying this morning, as you love your wife more, you'll
just be—the older you grow in your relationship with your wife
or your husband, the more time you spend with them, right? You
do the things they do. You like to do the things they
do. You like to go where they go. You like to spend time with
them. And beside the fact that you're too old to go anywhere
and do anything, as you say, I will go. No, but really. You find you're
spending more time with one another, don't you? That's as it should
be. Right? We're believers, though. This is preparation for eternity. We're going to spend eternity
with one another. Huh? We're going to spend... I'm going to have to get to liking
Barbara. She's going to have to provoke
me to love her. Because I'm going to spend a
long time with it. I'm sure glad we're going to be changed, aren't
you, Barbara? No, but I see that's the reason I love you now. I
see Christ in you at times. But we do. We need to not forsake
the assembling of ourselves together, and certainly the principal meaning
is right here, right here. And like I said, I look out there
and see all this empty sea, and it really grieves my heart. But
I'm thankful you're here. I'm sure thankful you're here.
And it's not by accident. And it won't be in vain. It won't
be in vain. So much more as you see the day
approaching. Do you see the day approaching?
Do you see this evil day that we're living in? Do you see the
perilous times, Nancy, that we're living in? Huh? Isn't that 2
Timothy 3 so indicative of our day? Huh? 1 Timothy 4, in the
latter days, some shall depart from the faith. Isn't that now? Some people have left here in
the five short years that I've been here. People that seem to
be strong in the faith are gone. We need to exhort one another,
don't we? We need to exhort. So much more as you see the day
approaching. So much more. I see the day approaching. The
day of Christ. Verse 26 is talking about apostasy,
talking about leaving. If we sin willfully after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no
more sacrifice for sin. In other words, that used to
give me trouble. I remember after, as a young believer, when I'd commit
some sin or something, I knew better. And I did it willfully,
Stan. We willfully sin, don't we? Sure, there's sins of presumption,
but most of the time, we willfully sin. We do what we want to do,
don't we? And that verse used to rise up and just slay me. But Johnny doesn't mean that.
I mean, it doesn't. That's not what it's saying.
If you sin willfully, then you're lost. That's nothing to say.
in the context now. Do you read the context? He just
said, Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but exhort
one another so much more as you see the day approaching for,
and he's going to explain, if we sin willfully. In other words,
we do what we want to do, and we go where we want to go. What
do you want to do, and where do you want to go? Do you want
to do his will? Look over at verse Let's see,
verse 36 says, You have need of patience after you have done
the will of God. Do you want that? What is that?
By the way, Christ said this is the will of God, that you
believe on him, on Christ. This is the will of God. Everyone
is, see if the Son believes on him, and I'll give unto him everlasting
life and raise him up in that last day. That's the will of
God. The will of God is that you believe
his Son. Do you trust him? Isn't that
what you want to do? Oh, that I might know him, win
Christ and be found in him. Isn't that what you want to do?
You're here tonight. I have to believe that you're
here because it's where you want to be. Isn't it, Vicki? Or are
you here because what would we think of you if Vicki wasn't
here? Oh, that's hypocrisy. Are you
here because you want to be? Can you think of any place else
you might rather be? Something better to do? Really. There might be better
preachers out there. You know, if you hear Scott's
preaching down the road, Henry, go, go. By all means, go. But
you'll still be doing the same thing, won't you? Here in the
preaching of the gospel. That's what this is talking about.
If we sin willfully, if you leave the gospel—Deborah, you—people
do what they want to do. That's the reason I don't need
to quit getting upset about people not coming or whatever. We do what we want to do and
just need to pray, Lord, change our want-tos. Change their want-tos. We do what we want to do. We
go where we want to go. We're with who we want to be
with. And this is what he's talking about, though. He said, don't,
don't, let us hold fast, not forsaking, consider one another,
not forsaking the assembly of ourselves. If we sin ruthlessly
after we've received this glorious gospel, the knowledge of the
truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. If you leave
this gospel stand, you're not going to find the gospel anywhere
else. I mean, you might be a church
member somewhere. But is this the gospel? Is there
no other gospel than the gospel you have received and the gospel
we preach? Is there another gospel? Charles,
is there another gospel anywhere in Franklin County that you can
think of? If you leave here, where are you going to go? There's no more sacrifice. There's no more sacrifice for
sin. You need to go where you hear
all the time of that one sacrifice for sin forever. You're going
to go where, if you leave here and go someplace else, you're
going to go and hear some fellow tell you about what big sacrifices
you're going to have to make in order to get to heaven. Now,
there remains no more sacrifice for sin. But this man, after
he offered one sacrifice for sin, sat down. And that's what
you need to do, sit down and hear him. Sit right here, come. Sit with us, we'll do you good.
You go out there, they'll do you bad. That's what it's talking about
there. You see that? If you leave this gospel, there's no other
gospel. There's no other hope. Verse 27, but there is this to
look forward to. You do have this, a certain fearful
looking forward judgment and fiery indignation, which shall
devour the adversaries. Who are the adversaries? Cursed
is everyone that loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said,
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled just a little. Read on. He who would despise
Moses' law died without mercy of two or three witnesses. Moses,
his detractors, those that despised Moses and what the Lord gave
the people through Moses, they perished. They perished. And that was the earthly ministration that 1 Corinthians
talks about. It was glorious, but it was nothing
compared to the gospel ministration that
we don't. If they died under died without mercy unto two or
three witnesses for forsaking Moses' law, verse 29, how much
sore of punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden
underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of Calvary?"
How do you trod underfoot the Son of God? How do you trod underfoot
the Son of God? Well, it's kind of like That
verse of Scripture in Jeremiah that says, Is it nothing to you,
all that you have passed by? When something is underfoot,
it means you are walking somewhere, isn't it? You are walking. It
says it is kind of like walking by or walking over it and not
giving it much thought. Is it nothing to you? And to not give it a thought
and not give it careful consideration and time well spent It's just
a trod underfoot, the Son of God Himself. Like I said, in
Hebrews 4, we talked about the Word of God being quick, being
alive, that this is Him speaking. We just read that, Terry, didn't
we, in 2 Peter 1? This is a more sure word of prophecy.
What? The Bible? No, this is God has,
in these last days, spoken unto us by Son. This is the Word. The Word is Christ. He's speaking. It's not me, it's not Paul Mayhew
you're hearing from tonight. It's the word of Jesus Christ
himself, and to not stop and consider it carefully and soberly
and give it our all is to trot it
into time. And it's to count if there's
anything more important or worth more worthy of our time than
the gospel, then that is to count the blood of the covenant an
unholy thing. Do you see what that's saying,
little boy? If there's anything more interesting to us, that's
to count the precious blood as an unholy thing. I don't need
that. I'm just not interested. Do you see that, how the Lord
said, how much sorer punishment, do you suppose? Nancy, God sent
Moses down here. He's a man from God. And whatever
Moses said went, and the people died. The Lord, through Moses,
slew people, thousands of them. The Son of God came down. And the Scripture says that he
said that every time two or three people are gathered together,
he's here, he comes. He condescends to be in our midst.
And you see that? I don't want to manipulate us
by guilt, but that's what this is saying. That's what this is
saying. And that holy thing, it doesn't
despise the spirit of grace. It despises the spirit of grace.
And we know him, verse 30. Paul says, we know him. that
hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, I
will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. And once again, I quote that
to you, what Peter said, The time has come. The judgment must begin first
at the house of God, and let the righteous be saved. There must be heresies among
us, that they which are proved might be made manifest. John said they went out from
us. They were not of us. They had been of us, and no doubt,
no doubt they would remain with us, but they went out from us
that it might be made manifest. They were not all of us. You
see, that's the Lord warning his true people, don't forsake We got a letter from a dear,
sweet couple we know and love and they're just dear, precious
people and they have darling children. And in that letter, in the course
of that letter, and where they live right now, they're attending
a place where the man supposed to preach the gospel. I never
heard him, but they said, I remember back when they first moved there,
that they wrote back with joy into how they found the gospel
church to attend. They were so glad, so thankful
for the gospel, a place to hear the gospel. Well, we heard from
them the other day, and they said, the wife wrote the letter
and said, such a husband, he has always wanted to be a farmer,
and we have the opportunity now of buying a farm. We found a
farm in West Virginia, somewhere in West Virginia, and so many
acres and all, and it's a real opportunity for us to go there
and live off the land and all that. No mention of the gospel. No more mention of the gospel. And the Lord, you know, they
are saying that, well, we'll seek, and it's always the same. You always hear the same story.
I've heard this once, I've heard it a hundred times. Well, this
opportunity has arisen, this job or this place or whatever,
we're going to get this and we'll find a church. That's not the
way the Lord said to do it. That's not the way it works.
the religion of convenience. We don't seek first the world
and then later on the kingdom of God is added unto us. We seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then perhaps
all these things will be added unto it. Taking their children
where no gospel is so they can grow some corn. And you have to conclude that
the gospel doesn't mean anything to them. Doesn't it? You have to conclude they never
really knew Christ to begin with. Unless. And she used these arguments. Well, if the Lord doesn't want
us to go, he won't allow us to buy that place. Don't you bet
on it. He might let you have it. He
generally lets us have what we want, doesn't he? Huh? Sure he does. Sure he does. He places things out here. Which
will it be? Well, time is gone. It's here. The gospel churches
are so few and far between, getting fewer all the time, aren't they? And you just can't move to any
old place and find the gospel. You're just not going to do it.
You're going to have to move. And this woman used to say, Well,
if we're his sheep, he'll feed us. The shepherd does not lead sheep
off by themselves. Uh-uh. Sheep are a flock. That's
what I was talking about to begin with, that forsaking the assembly
of ourselves together. Sheep are gregarious. I like
that word. They flock together. And when
you find green pastures, buddy, you just get fat together. And
still waters. Is it greener over there? Could
it be any greener than this thing? Let me just get down to
where you're at, people. And I've said this before. This
is a blessed group of believers here. A blessed group. Everybody that comes to visit
here goes away with nothing but good thoughts of the people here. Bob Coffey said this. He said
there's no place no place. And he's preached everywhere
like I have and other men have, in all the great churches you
can think of. He said, there's absolutely no place I'd rather
go and the people I'd rather preach to than right here. And it's true. You're not going
anywhere. You try it. You go someplace. You try to
find the fellowship that we have here. Oh, it's not quite good
enough, what it should be, but it's getting better. And you
will be hard-pressed to find anywhere, a church anywhere,
where there's better fellowship, where there's a better message
being preached. And I've said this before, if
you can't be happy here, you'll not be happy anywhere. Now, I just mean that with all
my heart. I just mean that with all my
heart. Besides, we're members one of another, aren't we? Aren't
we members one of another? We've been many members, yet
are one, and now we're vitally joined together. It's like a
marriage. It's family. I'm not going to leave my wife
because when a prettier one comes along, there are no prettier
ones. But I'm certainly not going to
leave her when a bigger one comes along. And I said that when I first
came here, I'm not, you know, there's no stepping stone for
me. When a bigger church comes along, I want to go to it, you
know. What in the world? That ain't love. That's ambition,
isn't it? And when you become a member
of this church, what does that mean? It means a lot. It means
a lot. It means you're vitally joined
together with a group of believers, your brothers and sisters. We
share our mutual woes, and just, we're family now. You don't go
anywhere, Sammy. I wish I had that power. I know
somebody that does. I wish I had that power to say,
you're not going anywhere. You're staying right here. But
I can do this, I can exhort you, can't I? Where would you go? Where would you go? Where? Where would you go? Well, the Lord judges his people.
That's what I said. I quoted that. Christ said, well,
there must be. This must happen. There are goats
in with the sheep, and there are tares in with the wheat.
It's sad, but that's the way it is. That's the way it is. When somebody leaves, it doesn't
always mean they're a goat or a tare. It doesn't always mean
that, but sometimes it does. Verse 31, it's a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God. Fearful thing. That is, after
you've left the gospel, boy, it's a wonderful thing to fall
into his hands, upon believing the gospel. Now,
listen, Carl remembers, he says, the former days in which after
you were illuminated, when you first heard the gospel, you endured
a great fight of affliction. Do you remember? I like to call
it, you become a soapbox believer. Anybody and everybody you run
into, you tell them the gospel. You endured a great fight of
afflictions." Oh, my. Paul said in other places, oh,
my, he said, where is that joy that he once had, and so forth.
Verse 33, he said, partly you made a gazing stop, both by reproaches
and afflictions, and that doesn't matter. It didn't matter to you.
I remember when the Lord was dealing with me and revealed
himself to me in the gospel, I was working on the railroad
at the time and had some old cronies, some old buddies I was
running around with at the time. I was just more interested in
this gospel, and God's people were becoming more and more dear
to me all the time. I was less and less interested
in the things that my old buddies were doing and the things that
I used to do, and they began to lose interest in me. And I
became a gazing stock, a laughing stock. It didn't matter. After
a while, I saw them for what they were. They were just friends,
you know, fair-weather friends, for what they could get out of
me. Just for what they could get out of me, you know. They
weren't true friends. They weren't bosom buddies, after
all. And I became a gazing stock, a laughing stock. Well, he's
gone, old boy, he's gone. He got religion. Ah, it doesn't
matter, does it? It doesn't matter. And you became, look at it, there's
thirty-three companions of them that were so used. Everybody
else was used the same way. You became companions. The fool
is for Christ's sake. You became companions of others
that experienced similar misuse and abuse. Right, John? They're
laughing at you, buddy. All your bluegrass buddies are
laughing at you, except the ones that are religious. But, buddy, I'm laughing with
you. I'm rejoicing with you. I'm with
you. I'm with you, buddy. By God's
grace, we'll be together for many years. Wouldn't that be
wonderful, thirty more years together? Verse 34, Paul says, You had
compassion in me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling
of your goods, and lost some things. I know some people who
actually have lost some things for the gospel sake, not gained
them. That woman I was talking about, they were looking to gain
some. Everyone will lose the gospel and gain some things. Isn't that just exactly what
our Lord said? What will it profit a man if
he gets the biggest farm in West Virginia and loses his soul, if his children never hear the
gospel? There'll come a time, if they are his own, that they'll
beg. They would beg the Lord for another
opportunity to have their children understand the gospel, after
they've gone the way of the world. Oh, my. They took joyfully the
spoiling of their goods. Knowing in yourselves you have
in heaven a better and enduring substance. Verse 35, "'Cast not
away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of
reward.'" What is your confidence? Christ is our confidence. Oh, what great recompense of
reward! What a reward! It will be worth
it all. Verse 36, but you have need of
patience. You have need of patience. Oh,
we need patience, don't we? The trial of your faith and work
of patience. Patience. Let patience have a
perfect work. Scripture says we do have need
of patience. More than anything, we need to
patiently wait on him, wait on the Lord, and endure trials and
afflictions and and persecution and so forth, and patiently submit
to Christ in all things, that builds character. It builds character,
the character of Christ, who patiently endured everything. Consider him, who endured all
those things, all contradictions against himself, lest you be
weary. Huh? Nobody was laughed at like he
was. Yet a little while, verse 37, a little while. Oh, I like
this verse. A little while. And he that shall
come. Hannah, Jesus Christ, walked
this planet one day, a man named Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory,
and he's coming back. And your daddy and mama can't
wait. We're looking forward to it. Aren't you? Huh? He's coming back. He that came shall come. He will come and will not tarry.
Now, Paul said this nearly 2,000 years ago, a little while. It
must be shorter now than it was then. A little while. And he. He. Who? I have to tell you, you
must not know it. And if you don't look forward
to it, I advise you, Oh, to ask him, to ask him. Lord, put that desire in me.
I want to know you. I want to know you, because in
a little while, he's going to come, more surely than I'm standing
here. In yet a little while, he shall
come. He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now,
the just shall live by faith. Waiting on it. Terry, waiting
on it. You waiting on him, buddy? Wait. Wait. Be a good cheer. Wait. He's coming. He's coming. Maybe tonight. But if any man
draw back. Buddy, if you leave this gospel,
Terry, you're a goner, buddy. You cling to Christ and God loves
you. you leave, God hates you. It's as plain as that, isn't
it? It doesn't have any pleasure in you. Verse 6 of chapter 11
says that without faith it's impossible to please him. You
draw back and you leave this gospel, God's not pleased with
you at all. He's angry with you. Verse 39, aren't you glad he
put that in here? Aren't you glad verse 39's in
there? We are not of them who draw back. And that's the reason I said
this morning, Henry, I hope we are a we here. I hope you're
a we. I pray for you, Henry. You pray
for me, all right? That we're in this number. We
are not of them, that number, who draw back unto perdition.
But we're going to be of them that believe in the saving of
the soul. And if we are, it will be by his grace. That's for sure.
That's for sure. But he exhorts us that don't
go, don't leave, don't cast away your confidence. Forsake not
the assentment of your sin. You need this. This is what keeps
you from quitting. It really is. This is where you
grow, this is where you feed, this is where your faith grows,
and so forth. This is so vital. Don't forsake
the assembly of yourselves together, and provoke one another to love.
Don't provoke each other to anger. God knows, the scripture says,
that in many things we offend all. But let's provoke to love
now, and exhort one another so much more as we see the day approaching.
Because in yet a little while, either shall come or come. Even
so, can you say it? Even so, come, Lord Jesus. OK, stand with me. Our Heavenly Father, we ask and
pray and hope and beg you, our Lord and our
King, that you would make these words effectual. Make your word
effectual. We know it will be to some. Many are called, many have been
called tonight, exhorted by this word, by your word. Few, you
said, few are chosen to hear it, believe it, act upon it,
live by it. Oh, Lord, may we be, may every
person in here tonight, my heart's desire and prayer to you for
Central Baptist Church is that they might be saved. Everybody
on the sound of this word tonight don't know of a soul that any
of us are willing to lose. We hope, dear Lord, it's your
will, that's your will, that they might be saved. Our children,
oh Lord, if you tarry a few more years Many of our old folks leave and
leave this earth, and our young people, they are the church,
Lord. If this church is to continue,
they are the church, the future church. And Lord, I ask that
you would save our young people, our children. Reveal yourself
to them. Make Christ be the joy and rejoicing
of their heart. Make yourself regal to them.
Continue this place. Let this place continue. A lighthouse.
A city set on a hill. So, Lord, I ask it for your glory
and your honor. And we've met together today.
We thank you for this day. Your blessed, blessed word. How
we thank you for it. Everything is there. Everything.
It's so complete. so nourishing, so good, so full
of meat, milk, honey, sweet to the taste, yet strong meat that
we need, and milk of righteousness that we suck on and satisfy those
breasts of consolation. That sweet consolation is in
Christ, our confidence. We thank you for that word, and
we ask that you not let the fowls of the air take it away cares
of the world. We ask that you would put it
down in the cloud of hearts. Let it bring forth fruit. May
we walk by faith and live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Him we pray these things until we meet again Wednesday. Amen. Thank you.