Second Timothy chapter one. Second
Timothy chapter one. The Apostle Paul in Second Timothy I just finished telling a young
preacher named Timothy to preach the word of God without fear and to do it boldly and unashamedly,
not apologizing for anything, but boldly declaring the testimony
of God, which, verse nine, he says, the gospel of God is this.
that God has saved us. That's reason enough for boldly
declaring the gospel, isn't it? He saved us, even me. And he's called us, and he did
it with a holy calling. It wasn't according to our works.
In other words, he didn't see something good in anyone or something
worthy or something worth keeping, worth saving. No, it was all
according to his own purpose, just because he decided to do
so. According to the good pleasure
of his own will, it's according to his own purpose and grace.
It's all according to grace, and it's all given to us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. In other words, all the salvation
of God, all the gift of God. everything is for Christ's sake,
for his Son's sake, because he dearly loves his Son and will
honor his Son and exalt and glorify his Son and everyone who comes
to God by him. And then he warned young Timothy.
He warned him of the consequences of being zealous for the truth,
of daring to preach or even read verses like verse 9. He warned
him of the consequences. He told him that men would persecute
him and that he would be afflicted for merely telling the truth. But he said, Young Timothy, don't
be afraid. This is God's will. It's God's
word. It's God's power. And he'll honor
his word. He will honor the faithful preaching
of his word. And then Paul encourages this
young pastor, young Timothy, and me, and you should encourage
you too. He encourages him by telling
him of his own afflictions. He says, Now Timothy, I am in
prison right now as I write this letter In other words, Paul is not telling
young Timothy that something that he hasn't already experienced
himself. He said, Timothy, though I am
in bonds, though I am in chains, and though I am in prison for
preaching the gospel, yet he says I was appointed.
God appointed this. Verse eleven, I'm appointed a
preacher. It's my calling. It's God's calling upon me. I'm
an apostle. I'm a messenger of Jesus Christ.
God forbid that I should glory, that I should be taken up with,
that I should do or do anything but preach the gospel of Christ.
I'm a bond slave, he said, of the Lord Jesus Christ, a witness
of his person and work. I can't help but tell it. He
said, like David, my heart is like a wine bottle ready to burst
with new wine. I've got to tell it. It'll just
spew out wherever I go. I've got to tell it. He said,
and for this cause, verse 12, for which cause I'm suffering
these things. And suffer he did. For the which
cause? What cause? for the cause is
not in the cause of like some of these charlatans today that
are caught for tax evasion or caught for some lewd act or whatever
and they're put in prison they say well I'm suffering persecution
for this fellow you know married this young girl and caught in
polygamy and he said well they said we'd be persecuted not for
evil sake. He said, shame on you. We just
read that, didn't we, in 1 Peter chapter 4. Peter said, shame
if you be persecuted for being a murderer or a thief or an adulterer
or whatever. But for the cause of Christ,
for preaching the Word of God, Paul said, I'm in prison for
preaching the truth. For unashamedly and dogmatically
preaching election by the Father. Election by the Father. Redemption
by God the Son. Sanctification by God the Spirit.
For salvation by the sovereign grace of God. Salvation through
the Lord alone. And he said, I'm in prison for
preaching that. Salvation 100% by the free, unmerited,
unearned, unsought grace and gift of God Almighty. He said,
I'm in prison for that. I'm in prison for that. I suffer
these things. He says, for merely telling the
truth. I had become the enemy of many people. For simply repeating
what God has already said in his Word, for simply repeating
it, I'm suffering. I'm suffering imprisonment. I'm
suffering torture. I'm suffering stripes. He said
five times. Was it three or five times? I
forget. He received thirty-nine stripes.
I'm suffering humiliation. I'm suffering slander, mockings,
degradation. contradiction, I'm being maligned,
I'm being persecuted. I am, I have no, one place he
said, I don't have anybody with me. Everybody's against me. Look
what he says in verse 12. Nevertheless, that's nothing. He said, that's okay. That's
all right, he says. I'd do it all again. Why? How, Paul? How could you say
that? Because I know whom I believe. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed unto him against that day. Now turn with me over to Hebrews
chapter eleven. Hebrews chapter eleven, you know,
is something the great chapter that deals with the faith of
God's elect. It tells of the cruel trials of mockings and
scourgings and bonds and imprisonments and stonings and being sawn asunder
and tempted and slain with a sword and wandering about and the torture
and so forth of God's people. The great afflictions that all
of God's people suffer or have suffered down through the years
for the from the beginning of time. Now listen, I'm not just
giving you a sermon this morning. We need this. We need this desperately. I need this. I need it in a bad
way. From the beginning of time, from
the very beginning of time, men and women have endured terrible
and severe consequences for their belief in the one God, the Holy
God. Like that one man said to me
on the phone, I'm not concerned about God's attributes. Well,
you better be. You better be. Because if you don't know, salvation
is to know the one true God. Our Lord said that. And if you're
not concerned with his attributes, how he is, who he is, what he
did and all, you may not have the right God. That's what he
finally said to me on the phone. He said, evidently, we're worshiping
two different gods. I said, that's right. I'm worshiping the God of Scriptures.
You're worshiping the God of your own imagination, I told
you. But for these, from the very
beginning, men and women have endured terrible consequences
for just merely believing what Scripture says about God. Look
at verse 7, Noah. We have the story of Noah, verse
7. By faith, it says, being warned
of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, moved with
fear, prepared an ark, the saving of his house, by the which he
condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith. Now don't you know Noah was maligned? Can you think of any man that
would have been more persecuted and maligned than Noah? In his
day, he lived in an exceedingly wicked generation. Noah. God
said so himself. God looked down. You know, we
think 1993 is wicked. Well, that date, whenever that
was, was God looked down to see if there were any that didn't
understand, any that didn't seek after God. He said, there's none.
God saw that the wickedness of the imagination of men is evil
from his youth up. And he said, I'm going to wipe
this place out. There's nothing good. And don't
you know that when God told Noah to build a boat on dry land,
when it never rained before, that he was maligned and ridiculed
unlike any other man before him. A hundred and twenty years, Henry,
not but a few days. One hundred and twenty years.
Everybody that walked by laughed at him. and ridiculed him for building
this boat. Why, Noah? Don't you know they said the
same thing that Peter said in his letter? Noah, all things,
it's been a hundred years now since you, all things continue
as they were from the beginning. Noah, where's the promise of
this flood that you're talking about? And they mocked him and
scoffed him. Huh? Why, Noah? Why would you
do this? God said so. Why Noah? Why build a boat? God
said to him. God who cannot lie, and I don't
care if it takes a hundred years, I don't care if it takes two
hundred years. God said build a boat. He said it's going to
rain, I'm going to build a boat, and it's going to rain. God can't
lie, and it's going to rain, and the safety is only in the
ark. Y'all better get in this boat just as soon as I finish
it. You better get in this boat. Oh Noah, look at verse eight.
by faith, Abraham, when he was called, when he was called. See, Noah was called by God,
and then Abraham was called. Abraham, when he was called,
to go out into a place which he should after receive for an
inheritance, obeyed, and he went out. He didn't know where he
was going. Now, don't you know he was ridiculed?
Seventy-five years old. Seventy-five years old. He had
a job. He had job security by this time.
bound to it. He had seniority. He up and quit
one day. He had a wife and a family. He
was settled. He had houses and lands. He had
prestige. He was known and liked in the
community and so forth. He was a good member of the First
Christian Church of Ur. And up one day, he packed his
bags and was leaving. Where are you going, Abraham? Where? The promised land. Well,
where might that be? I don't know. Now, wait a minute,
Abraham. Abram, you're going to the promised
land. You don't know where it is. Who
told you about this? God. God did. God did. Now, I don't know where
I'm going, but I know who told me to go. And that's all that
matters. Look down at verse twenty-four
and twenty-five. Verses twenty-four and twenty-five. Moses, by faith,
Moses, when he was come to years, he was forty years old, remember?
Forty years old. And he, like Abraham, was well-to-do. He was well-situated. I mean
well-situated. He was heir to the throne. He
was going to be the next Pharaoh. You know that? He was going to
be the and the richest ruler on the face of the earth. By
faith, when he came to Gears, he refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season.
Riches, prosperity, fame, and fortune—one day Moses got up
and renounced it all to sojourn with a bunch of hated and despised
people called Jews who were at the time. Why, Moses? How could you do this? Where
are you going? Don't you know Pharaoh asked
him that? Don't you know his foster mother asked him that?
Don't you know all his friends in Egypt asked him that? Where
are you going? What are you doing? Why are you doing this? How could
you? Look at verse twenty-six. He esteemed the reproach of Christ's
greater riches in the treasures in Egypt. In other words, he
took a look at Egypt with all its finery and all of its gold
and silver, which was going to rust. And God, by his grace,
showed him a look at Christ, and he chose between the two.
And Egypt was nothing compared with the riches, the beauty of
Christ, for he had respect of the recompense of the reward.
And by faith, now here's the key, verse twenty-seven, by faith
he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. He didn't
care. fear me and he feared God more. He endured. How did he
endure this? All the ridicule and the slander
and the persecution and hatred and the trials and afflictions
that he was about to go through. How did he endure it? As seeing
a man who was invisible. Eyes of pain. Now, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, they never saw God. God's invisible. Scripture says
no man can see Him. No man has ever seen, or can
see, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.
He had to declare it. When God came down in the form of a man,
Jesus Christ, the only time man ever saw God. But Moses didn't
see God, but he saw Him with the eye of faith, didn't he?
How did he see Him? How did he see God then? How
could he do what he did? How could he believe God? How
could he see? God's Word. But you know the
miracle of this thing? Believed on in the world, it
says in 1 Timothy 3, 6, 10. The miracle of this is that Moses
didn't have a Bible. But God in sundry times, diverse
manners, spoke unto the fathers in town Bath by the prophets.
But Moses saw Him. He said, I believe God. I believe
Christ. Now turn back to 2 Timothy chapter
1. Turn back there now. Turn back there. Moses said,
I believe God is God. You know, he had the same testimony
as Abraham, and so do all of God's people. They have the same
testimony as Abraham. Paul wrote of that in Romans,
didn't he? We have the same testimony as Abraham. In other words, you
believe God. You believe God is God. You believe
God's Word is God's Word. You believe God's Christ is God's
Christ. You believe Christ is the only
Savior. You believe you're a sinner, that the Word says you're a sinner.
The Word says you're dead. The Word says you're hopeless.
The Word says you're without help, without hope, without strength,
naked before a holy God, undone, condemned to die. You believe
every word. You believe Christ is the only Savior. You believe
everybody that comes to God by Christ will be saved, so you
come to Him. Never seen him. You've never seen Jesus Christ,
have you, John Caesar? Every man that says he has is
a liar. He's a liar. Every man. Every woman that says
they saw or has seen Jesus Christ is a liar. No man has seen him.
No man. We read that in the first Timothy,
didn't we? You're going to see him. Someday, every eye is going
to see him as he really is. You know how I know men and women
haven't seen him? by their description of him. So as they talk about,
like old Oral Roberts, you know, he saw a 400-foot Jesus or whatever,
you know. His description didn't fit the
Jesus Christ of Revelation 1, not at all. Neither does the
description of Jesus that men are preaching about today. It
doesn't fit his description at all. Said he's trying to and
can't. Says he tried and failed. Says
he wants to and can't unless you let him. That doesn't fit
the description of the Sovereign Savior of Scripture, does it?
That's how I know they've never seen him. But those who have
seen him with eyes of faith, according as he is written in
this Word, according as he is revealed in this Word, have the
same testimony as Abraham. I believe God. I believe God
is God. Remember when Pharaoh asked Moses,
who is the Lord? Huh? Who is the Lord? Finally,
when God revealed his power and strength to Pharaoh, Pharaoh
said, Moses, God, is God. Didn't he? After his God, Dagon,
was flat on his face, he realized, hey, Moses' God is God. And I'm
here to say today, God of the Scriptures, Moses' God, Abraham's
God, Noah's God, Lot's God, Paul's God, Peter's God, Isaiah's God
is God. There is none other. And I believe
that. Do you that? Do you? It'll be
counted unto you for righteousness. And I believe Jesus Christ is
the only mediator, the only Messiah, the only Savior, the only Lord,
man's only hope, only help, only salvation. I believe salvation
is by grace. Why? God said so. God said so. You know, it's really not anything
to dare to believe that. Why should you have to dare to
believe the truth? Huh? It's the truth. Truth's the truth,
whether I believe it or not, isn't it? I think I'll believe
it, because it's the truth. And I'm committing everything
to him, like old Brother Scott would say, lock, stock, and barrel.
That came from an old saying, when a man unconditionally surrendered
to his stronger than he, you know, he committed his whole
gun. You know, gun was a mighty prized
possession back then, as it is today to some. Commit it all. Stack his arms. Hey, there's
somebody stronger than I am. He's Lord over me. I'm going
to quit fighting. I'm going to start bowing. I'm
going to start believing. I'm going to start following.
I'm going to quit fighting and start following. I'm going to
stack my gun. I'm going to commit lock, stock, and barrel to him. And from this day forward, I'll
be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. He's my captain. I'm casting all my care upon
him, all my care upon him, all my sins, all my needs, all my
future, my home, my job, my family, my life, my heart, my mind, my
soul, unto him who is God, my God, because I know he is God.
Verse 12, look at it again. I know he is God. See, I know
whom I believe. Do you know whom he had believed?
Do you remember when Christ was talking to that woman at the
well? He said, woman, you don't know what you believe. Remember
that? And I say the same thing to this
generation. People don't know what they believe.
They say, God must save us. But then they turn around and
say, He can't save you unless you let Him. Now, come on. I know two and two is four. That's
easy. And I know God saves. If God saves, then God saves. Right? I mean, if it says, Salvation
is of the Lord, Jonah 2 and 9. Salvation is by grace, the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation is
one hundred percent by the grace of God. Salvation is by God,
by Christ, by the Holy Spirit. Without me you can do nothing.
That means what it says, doesn't it? That means if God must save us,
then God must save us. It means there's nothing I can
do. He has to save me. And I don't think people know
what they believe. Like that article we had in our bulletin
one time, everybody prays like a Calvinist. Everybody prays,
Oh, Lord, save us. Oh, Lord, let the blood, you
know, wash us from our sin. And then they turn around, and
when they're and got their eyes open and tell me, won't you let
Jesus into your heart? Won't you let His blood, won't
you accept Him, won't you? Now wait a minute, that just
doesn't gel with me, does it? I don't think men know what they
believe. We know whom we have believed, the salvations of the
Lord. Simple as that. You want to state
the belief of a true child of God, He'll say it, salvations
of the Lord. from start to finish. He's the
author and the finisher of salvation. I know whom I have believed.
Jesus Christ is not a failure. He's not just a mere man. He
wasn't just a martyr that lived this earth. He wasn't just a
poor, helpless martyr who was sacrificed at the hands of Roman
soldiers. He's God. He's the covenant head
of a people. He came down to this earth to
accomplish salvation for a people that God chose before the foundation
of the world. And he got the job done, John
Davis. And after he got the job done,
he washed his hands, took off his work clothes, folded them
up like a napkin in a tomb, and went back to heaven and sat down.
Job finished. And sent the Holy Spirit down.
He gathered my people, gathered my elect from the four corners
of the earth. If I know anything about the Bible, I'd know it
says that. Don't you? I know whom I believe. Do you
know whom you believe? I do. No, I'm not saying I came
up with this myself. Do you? Did you? No, no man can
receive anything except it be given to him from above. It's
a revelation. This had to be revealed to you.
It had to be revealed to me. Right? Because we were just like
that woman at the well. There was a time when we didn't
know what we believed. He didn't know what you believe.
He just knew you was a good Christian. He made your decision. You've
been baptized, and now you're sure for heaven as if you're
already there. You didn't know Christ, like that blind man who's
been healed, you know? Christ came to him personally.
You know, he'd had a great radical transformation. He'd cleaned
up his act, and some miracles had been performed, and everybody
saw that something different had happened to him and all that,
and he was witnessing. And Christ came to him personally.
That's when salvation comes, when a man meets the Lord of
glory. And Christ came to him and said, Do you know who the
Son of God is? He said, No, I don't. Who is he? He said, I am. And
he bowed. That's when salvation comes to
a man, not when he accepts Jesus, but when he bows before a sovereign
Lord. That's it. That's it. And I know whom I
have believed. I don't know about you. Do you?
Can you say this with the Apostle Paul? I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded. Not almost persuaded. Not like
the song says, almost persuaded. Fully persuaded. You know, I
have full assurance. Part of the time. I've said that
before. But it's so. It's so. I have full assurance. You know,
there's nothing, when I look within, like the song says, when
I look within, all is vain and dark and wild. filled with unbelief
and sin, can I deem myself a child of God, a Christian? I look at myself. I look in the
mirror. When I think about myself, after
I fall and sin, I think, are you a Christian? You can't be
a Christian. Look what you've done. Oh, yes,
I can. Look what he's done. Quit looking in. Quit looking
in and look without. Look to Christ. Where does it
say if you look at yourself, look inside and see whether or
not you're a good Christian, you'll be saved? No, it says
look unto me and be you saved. All the ends of the earth. To
the uttermost. To the uttermost. See, I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded I'm a sinner. I'm
persuaded I'm much worse a sinner than you are. Are you persuaded of that? There'll
be one big argument in heaven. There's going to be one argument
in heaven. Who's the chief of centers? That's what somebody
said there's going to be a wrestling match for the last seat. The father of most seats. No,
I don't deserve to be up there. I deserve back here if I deserve
being at all. That's my seat, chief of centers.
No, it's mine. Paul said, no, it's mine. Mary
said, no, it's mine. You'll say, no, it's mine. Right? If there's anything I'm persuaded
of about me, I'm persuaded I'm the chief of sinners. Not you,
John. Not you, Deborah. Not you, Polly.
Not you. I am. There's another thing I'm persuaded
of, though. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
even the chief. And I know whom I believe. A
sinner savior. Not a good folk savior. If he
did, I wouldn't stand a chance. Salvation ain't by chance. Salvation's
on purpose. But I'm saved not because of
what I do or what I don't do. I'm saved because Christ is the
Savior. And hey, did you hear it? Sinners,
Jesus will receive. Sound this word of grace to all.
Sound it. Sing it over again. When you
ever hear it, You believe that? You know, I'm pretty much persuaded
some people aren't persuaded yet where salvation is. You know,
when I hear people down in the mouth and all down and upset
about themselves and never have any peace or any confidence or
insurance or whatever, I think, where have you looked for it?
Huh? I hear people talk about, I'll
never be in this. I know you never will be. He's able. Where are you looking for your
peace? Where are you looking for your comfort? Where are you
looking for salvation anyway? He ain't going to find it in
here. All you'll see is darkness. Darkness. When you see Him, He
brings life and immortality to light through the gospel. He's
able. He's able to do what He said.
And what did He say? What did He say? He said, Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, though your
sins be as scarlet, though your double died, and though they're
over your head like, oh, you're a Psalm 38, more than has your
head, more than can be numbered, over your head, you're down and
dirty. Come to me, he said, I'll save
you. I don't care how bad you are.
As a matter of fact, the worse, the better. I get more glory
that way. Are you persuaded of that? If
you are, you'll ski-battle, as my pastor would say, ski-battle
on to Christ. Quit moping around just the center.
Sure you are, and there will be anything but. But he's just
a sacred. He's just a sacred. That's his
name. Call his name Jesus. He'll save you. He'll save you.
That's why he came. That's where he sits. That's
what he's doing right now. He's the surety of sinners. Ensuring that all sinners go
to heaven. You know, all bad people go to heaven. All dogs
go to heaven. Good people, no good people allowed
in heaven. No good people allowed. Only
sinners. Christ said that, didn't he?
Huh? Didn't he say that? I'm going to come to call the
righteous sinners. Show me a sinner and I'll show
you a man that Christ died for and a man that God will save.
He's able. He's able to do whatever he says.
And he said, trust me, believe me, follow me, I'll give you
eternal life, I'll pardon, cleanse, forgive, keep you, I'll receive
you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. Now listen, here I'm going to
give you a few things worth committing to Christ. Paul said, Timothy,
I know whom I am. You'll be a few things worth
committing to Christ, OK? Are you interested in this? I
hope so. Number one. Your biggest problem. Something
that you better resolve right off the bat. Something you better
commit to him right now. Before it's everlastingly too
late. You better commit your sins. Do it. Come naked. Just as I am, you
better strip off. We better strip off that self-righteous
religious veneer and robe and those pig leaves and this goodness
that we think we all have. You know, I've never I've never
I've done some bad things, but I've never that you better take
off that. I've never. Right. We better take off all
of our past religious notes. Well, I was baptized. Take that
baptism off real fast. Better take that Sunday school
pin off real fast. Hadn't You better take that little crown
off our head. Well, I haven't done this, I haven't done that,
but I have done this. You better cast it down real
fast. Get it off. Get it off. Strip. Strip naked. Oh, here they are,
Lord. Everything. I know how to think.
He knows everything anyway. You ever done that? I've told
you this before. You ever, as a kid, you ever
Try to hide something from your parents. You know, my mother
had the greatest sense of smell and hearing of any woman I've
ever, ever known. Supernatural sense of hearing.
Unbelievable. I couldn't sneak in that house
for anything. She'd hear me. Why? She knew. I wasn't fooling
her. I wasn't fooling my daddy. I
wasn't fooling anybody. Were you? We sure are not fooling God about
anything. That's what the world says. It
says that in the scriptures time and time again. God doesn't see.
Here I am in church, God. Here I am, God. He sees your
heart. God's not looking at things like you look at them, like I
look at them on the outward countenance, is He? God looks on the heart.
He searches the deep, innermost recesses of the hearts of the
mind, the soul, the motive. He gets down to the motive. Why
did I do what I did? Why did I not do what I, he says,
David said in Psalm 139, he says, thou knowest my thoughts are
far off. You know what I'm going to think before I think them.
David said, when I thought about that, such knowledge is too high
for me. He said, I better start bowing.
Hadn't I? I better start repenting. That's
what Christ came, that fool on the phone that said to me, he
said, Christ came preaching love. No, he didn't. The first thing
out of Christ's mouth was repent. God sees all, knows all, is over
all. He's done it! Bow. Repent. The kingdom of heaven
is at hand. That's the first thing out of
John the Baptist's mouth, the first thing out of Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Leviticus, Ezekiel. Go on and on and on. Repent. Why? God is holy. He's angry
with the wicked every day. I'm wicked. He will by no means
clear the guilty. We better cast our sin, we better
commit our sins to Jesus Christ before God finds us out. Right? You remember that story of Jacob
trying to appear like Esau before his father Joseph? He said to
his mother, what if my daddy finds me out? What if he finds
out I'm a hypocrite, Stan? And you are, aren't you? What
if God finds out I'm a hypocrite? You better commit your hypocrisy
to Jesus Christ. You better take it there. Lord,
I'm a hypocrite. Let the blood of Jesus Christ
be propitiation on the mercy seat for my hypocrisy. You see
what I'm saying? For my self-righteousness, for
all my sins. Here they are, Lord. Cover them
in the blood. Cover them in the blood. Please,
before God sees them, I commit all your sins to Him. And God laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. There's the and he said that
listen to this what God says about your sin. Listen, can you
hear it? He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
sayeth to the church of the central Baptist right this morning. He
says their sins and iniquities, though they be like scarlet,
though they be like crimson, their sins and their iniquities,
if committed to Christ, every one of them, past, present, and
future. Their sins and their iniquities,
he said, I'll remember no more. I like that. I like that. If you're a sinner, you like
that. You see, I've been a bad one.
And I am a bad one. And I'll be a bad one tomorrow. I can't get up in the bed without
thinking wicked thoughts. I can't wake up first thing in
the morning without thinking Let the blood of Jesus Christ.
God said their sins and their iniquities I'll remember no more.
Why? The blood. They were laid on Jesus. What
can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood. God can't
see through the blood. There's one thing God can't do.
He cannot see through the blood. I like that. I'm just going to
commit them all to him. Not that you understand what
I'm saying. Commit, not commit sin. I don't want to sin anymore.
I want to be done with it. I'm going to try my dead level
best to keep from it, but I'm not going to, I'm going to fail. I'm going to depend on somebody
else who never fails. He said, though we believe not,
yet he remains faithful. Here's another thing I'm going
to commit to him. My cares. All my cares. Actually, you notice I said I'm
going to because I haven't up to this point. Have you? All
my cares. Christ said this, which of you
by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature? And I've
told you before about me trying to when I was a boy. I was sent off for, you know,
this growth package. And I told you what it was. It
was a bar that you hang between your door and all you do is get
up in the morning and stretch. and hope that your spine stretches.
And then I went to play football when I was a boy, and I tried
to gain weight. Some of you are envious of this. I can't gain
weight if I try to. Some of you can't lose it if
you try to. But I bought weight-gaining pills. I bought these pills that had
about one million calories each in them, you know. I stuffed
my mouth full of them. If you can't do that, he
says, if you can't add one cubit to your stature, Or one pound
of your weight. Which of you, by taking thought,
can do anything? How can you do anything? How can you do, if you can't
do that which is least, how can you handle big problems? Huh? Tomorrow's probably sufficient
for the day is the evil thereof. We're going to have a big problem.
Or what we think is a big problem. It's going to be more than we
can handle. It always was. We can't do anything about it. We don't know what tomorrow's
going to be. We can't even plan for it. How can we handle a problem
if we don't know what it's going to be? Huh? Well, he said, Christ
said, cast all your cares on me. I care for you. I'll take
care of it. Cast them off. Every one of them. Past, present, future. He can handle them. Not only
can he feel them, but he can bear them. All right, another
thing. Cast your future. on Christ. Cast your future on Christ. Like I just said, I don't know
what tomorrow holds. That's all the more reason to
know Him who holds tomorrow. He does know. So why worry? Why worry? Well, it sounds easy,
doesn't it? You know, it really is. It really is. What does hinder
you? Christ said, according to your
faith, so be it. Just believe. The minute, you
know, I don't know how I'm going to do that. You don't ever know
how you're going to do anything. But I know he's able. So cast
your care upon him. Do what you will, but totally
depend on him. I mean, do what he gives you to do, but totally
depend on him. That's what a young preacher told, wrote John Newton
one time and said, how much, he said, I'm confused, how much
should we depend upon the Holy Spirit of God in our preaching?
He said, completely. He said, study, study as hard
as you can, do whatever your hand finds to do, do with all
your might, as unto the Lord, but depend totally upon the Lord.
Don't depend for one minute on your strength, your power, your
endeavors. Don't, not for a minute. Your
good looks not going to get you jobs done. Don't depend on him for anything,
or yourself for anything. Depend on him for everything. Cast all your care, your future.
Cast your future. Let come what may. If you do,
if you know him who holds tomorrow, you'll be able to say with Eli,
come what may, it's the Lord. Right? I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded it's the Lord.
There's nothing rise or wriggle, nothing, nothing and not a hair
falls from my head. My Heavenly Father doesn't know
it. Not a bird falls in the forest
that God didn't plant it. Come what may, it's the Lord.
That's the only place you're going to find any peace. Only place. If you tore all the
pieces When you say with David and so many others, we all do
this too. Oh Lord, don't you know, don't you care? Peter and
the boys on the boat, you know, the Lord was on that boat. That
boat, no possible way that boat was going down. No possible way,
humanly impossible for that boat to go down with the Lord of life
on it. And Peter and the boys went and ran back, don't you
care, don't you care? He said, I'm sleeping. But yes,
I do care. How shall I approach him? For
all we know, he went back and went to sleep. That's what they
should have been doing back then. Some of them should have been
manning the ropes and all that, yes. But they should have depended
on the fact that the Lord was in the boat all the time. Here's another thing. Commit
your family to it. Now hurry. Commit your family to it. Your
family. I wrote this in your Bible. A
wife is from the Lord. The proverb says a wife is a
gift from God. God gave her to you. Don't complain
about it. Don't complain about it. She's
from the Lord. He'll take care of her. I mean,
he'll provide for her. It's not up to you. Oh, I'm afraid
I'm not a good provider. You're not. You're not a good
provider. He is, though. He's the one that gave her to
you. He's the one that entrusted her to your care, but he's still
the one that's watching over her. It's like the father, you
know, giving the hand of the bride to the son. Yet the father, he's still the
benefactor, right? Your father's ever still help
you out every now and then? I mean, some of you older married
folks. Dad or mom still slip you a few Heavenly Father will
never, never leave his daughters. Never leave them. He'll always
have them under his care. Scripture says children are a
heritage from the Lord. It says, happy is a man who has his quiver
full of them. Dan and Nancy ought to be the happiest people in
here. Quiver plump full. Happy is the
man or the woman who has a quivered plum full of wine. God gave them. Maybe Nancy thought like my mother
thought when the last one was coming along. No. That's what
they thought. Mindy's mom thought, mom and
dad, Mindy's, can I say this? Mindy's mother just had a child,
just had a child, and how many months later? Four months later,
she found out she was pregnant again. And she cussed. Barnard said anybody that never
says damn is neurotic. Can I edit that? She cussed. You know that she's
the only joy her mother and father have ever seen. God knows what
he's done. He knows what he's done. Children
are heritage from the Lord. He gave them. So what we need
to do is give them back. Give them back and leave their
care to him. There he is anyway. Right? They're yours. I've committed
them to you. You gave them to me. You take
them back. Take care of them. And here's
another thing. Commit yourself. Commit yourself. Commit yourself. You know it's
your reasonable service. It's your you're not your own
anyway. All right. All right. Henry script says
you're not you know you're bought with a price you're bought and
paid for. You've got a receipt. Christ has receipts for you in
his hands. You're not shown you don't know
no man to live under himself. You live under the Lord. Amen.
Live live and live or die and live under the Lord. He's the
Lord. He's your you're his. Right? It's your reasonable service. But I tell you what, buddy, you
couldn't find a better employer. You couldn't find a better service
or a better employer. You couldn't find somebody that's
going to treat you any better. Join up. Commit. Commit at all
times. He's able to listen to all these
scriptures and I'll quit. I'll give them to you real fast.
All these things, he's able. I looked up where it says he's
able. Listen to this. He's able to build you up. You
feel all broken down? He's able to build you up. It
says he's able to make you stand. This psalm says, Though a righteous
man falls seven times. 777,403. He's able to make you
stand again. Your kids, you know, I don't
care how many, like teaching Hannah to ride that bike, you
know, oh, she falls. Get it. I'm able to pick her
right back up, set her on that bike. I'm able. He's able. I don't care how many times you
fall, he's able to make you stand again. I'll never get up this
time. I'll never get up. I'm down and dirty. He's able
to make you stand up and take a deep breath and go
again. Barbara, you're going to need that Monday, Tuesday
morning. You're off on Monday, aren't
you? You're going to need it. Here I go again. He's able to
make you stand. He's able to make a way to escape,
make you able to bear it up under trial. He'll not send a trial
that you're not able to bear. He's able to give you a way of
escape. I don't see any way out. He's
able. He's able to make all grace abound
toward you. You feel like you're graceless?
I don't have any graces. You talk about the means of grace,
I don't have any grace. I feel so ungracious, he's able to make
all grace abound towards me. Every time I walk up this platform,
I think, Lord, I'm not able. I don't have any gifts. Scripture
says, throw up the gifts upon him. I don't have any gifts.
Any talent, he's able. Like Spurgeon said, if he's able
to make a donkey, an ass speak to a man, he can make another
one speak. He's able to subdue all things
unto himself. I like that. He's able to subdue
Satan, who's on my rear end all the time. Sin, which is ever
before me. Self, which I have the biggest
battle with. He's able to subdue it. Fantastic. He's able, in that he was tempted,
he's able to sucker them that are tempted. I know how you feel.
Isn't it a good feeling when somebody's been through what
you've been and they can really Sucker you the scripture said
or help you out. Can't somebody's been through what you've been
through. They can relate to you. Christ said we don't have a high
priest who's not touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
But it was tempted. How many points? All points. Like as we are. And
he's able to sucker them that are tempted. That means everything,
John. He was tempted in everything
as a man. He was a man. He was tempted. Yet without sin. Without sin. Listen to this,
he's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we even ask or
think. According to the power that worketh
in us, that's faith. According to the power that works
in us. And our text said he's able to keep that which I've
committed unto him against that day. What day is that? Paul said in his epistles that
the Lord is not coming back until there comes a great falling away
first. This is it. This is it. He said the Lord,
the Lord himself said that he's not coming back until you see
the abomination of desolation. It's here. There's all sorts of abominations
taking place in the name of God. The world is desolate. of the
grace and the glory of God. Ichabod is written over the door
of the world. The abomination of desolation
is here. The glory of the Lord has departed.
But I'm bound to give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of spirit and belief of what you've heard
this morning. He's able to keep you and all
that you have. against this day, against this
evil day. He's preparing a table for you
right in the presence of your enemies. Ah boy, don't we have a great
Savior. Brother Joe, come and lead us in the singing of, there's
no other hymn that we can sing but number 224. Number 224, I
know whom I have believed. and am persuaded. He's able,
I'm not able, He's able to keep everything that I commit by His
grace unto Him against that day. Let's sing the first and last
verse of this.