Now you can be opening your Bibles
back to the book of James. We look at one verse in the book
of James. I believe one of the first verses
I ever learned by memory to quote, and not this one, but one similar
first Corinthians four verse seven. For who make a fee to
differ. And what has now. That now it's
not received. If they'll just receive it why
does sound lower is now it's not receiving who make a fee
to differ. From another and what has now
that now this not receive. Nothing. To own a car, do you know that to own a car
is a privilege? Huh? You know there are people
out there in the world who do not own a car, automobiles, carvers,
but they get by. To own a car is a privilege,
albeit a broken down 80, 70 some model, 60. To own a car is a privilege.
To have two, that's a luxury. Three? You may not think of that old
71 beat-up pickup truck that Henry gave me as an abundant
luxury with a hole in the floorboard, but it is, buddy. Every time
I go to get in it and need to haul something, I'm thankful
for it. I thank you for it. Thank God for it. So have a little
cozy apartment. Nice little warm little place,
you know. Furniture, broken down furniture
maybe, but furniture. Place to sit, place to lay your
head. That's a privilege. You know, that's a privilege.
Running water. Some of you remember when there
wasn't running water. Indoor plumbing. Boy, you talk about
a privilege. indoor plumbing, leaky plumbing, and that is still
a privilege. To own a house, now that's a
luxury. There are people in this world
who will never own a house, don't even pretend to. To own a few acres, now wait
a minute, you're talking about gravy. Food for tomorrow, food for the
day. food. Everyone in here is expecting
to have a big meal after we leave here. What a privilege! What
a privilege! It's not a right, it's a privilege.
There are people the world over. Somalia, why do you think we
are over there right now? We're trying to fight to get food to
starving people, hundreds of thousands of them, starving to
death for the want of a little rice. Food is a privilege. To have the next meal is a privilege.
To have a freezer full of My soul. What a luxury. Right? Is it any wonder that God Almighty
hates more than anything murmuring and complaining? You know why
the children of Israel did not go in the promised land? You
say unbelief. What precipitated it was murmuring
and complaining. Every time, look it up, Terry,
look it up, y'all. Every time they began murmuring
and complaining, God sent a plague, wiped them out. He said, what
an ungrateful, Isaiah chapter 1, he says, I brought up children
that are rebellious children, ungrateful. giving them everything
they need, and they just keep rebelling. We're the most discontented in
this. God hates it. We right here,
United States of America, good old Rocky Mount, Virginia, USA,
we're the most blessed people on the face of the earth. Yes we are. And yet if one of
our automobiles breaks down, one of our Sephora breaks down,
we murmur and complain bitterly. If our big fine home springs
a leak, we murmur and complain bitterly. If we have to take a little cut
and pay from our thirty, even forty thousand dollar a year
job, we panic. Everything we have is an undeserved
free gift from God Almighty. Nothing is merited. We don't
deserve the least of these things. Yet we act like we have it coming
to us. I'm preaching to myself. And
we act like we're responsible for it all ourselves. You know,
maybe another depression would do our society good. I'm serious. Maybe another depression would
do us some good. My grandfather went through the
depression. My parents went through it, but they were just children.
But my grandfather, Virgie, some of you actually lived through
it, hardships under. My grandfather went through it.
And you know that man later on, in later years, he was so satisfied
with the most simple, the simplest of things. A little bitty house. He never did have much. After
that, he lost it all, you know, like most everybody else did.
Little bitty old two-bedroom house, you know, kitchen and
living room, about it. All I remember him having, a
little bitty plot of land back there to grow his taters and
maters and beans. He was the happiest man. I mean, he was
content with that. Why? He realized that that was
all gravy. And maybe God needs to take away
some of our toys for us to appreciate. Maybe God needs to tear down
our playhouses. Right, Joe? Maybe we'd appreciate
all the things that you give us. The fact is, here in our
text, in verse 17, James chapter 1, it says, Every good gift, every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. It comes down from the Father.
Every good gift. Everything in this life is a
gift of God Almighty's grace. Everything. Everything is a gift. John 3 verse 27 says a man can
receive nothing except it be what? Given him from above. Everything we have. Everything
we have. God just made it for us. I want
you to look back at Genesis chapter 1. We all know this by heart. You know the story of creation.
But look back at it again. We take for granted the least
of things in this world. This reason, I say, only really
a believer can enjoy this life to its fullest. I mean that.
When you realize where it came from and you don't deserve it
and you ought not to have it, but God gave it to you, it makes
you enjoy things so much more. And I didn't mean to go into
this, but pain, everything that comes from God, even pain and
temptation, trials, is from God and it's good and even pain. I made this statement before
pain will make you appreciate good health. You know what one
day I had one of those sinus headaches that Roberta used to
suffer with for years it's totally debilitating you know you just
can't do a thing and I believe I can empathize with you now
Roberta has never before we didn't used to have these things so
I came down here but anyway I had one all day long and I'm telling
you I was I was miserable and everybody around me was miserable
because I just couldn't do anything but lay there The next day it
was gone, and man, I could have climbed a mountain. I felt so
good, I felt so thankful for just being normal. Good health. Everything, though, is a gift
from God. Everything. In Genesis chapter 1, our God
made all things well, good things. This planet is good. Would you
look at it with me? Genesis chapter 1, verses 3 through 5, God says,
Let there be light. I'm a lover of light more than
darkness. What about you? I like the daytime. I put some
big windows in that study there. I've got windows all over my
house at the expense of heating my house and cooling my house.
I like lights. Let the light shine. Darkness,
you know, I just sleep to pass the time, waiting for the day
to come. Lights. And it was good. God
saw the light. It was good. It's good. Nice,
bright day. I like it. good thing day and
night, they're good thing, nighttime is a good thing. Rest, he giveth
his beloved sleep. Sleep, that's a good thing. Those
of you who have gone without it know it's a good thing. You
enjoy it when you get it. Verses six through eight, God
made a firmament. Now that's the atmosphere, and
we talked about that last New Year's. The atmosphere that God
made, perfect. Conducive for life on this planet,
absolutely perfect, dew, rain, moisture, fog, everything necessary
in the firmament, the atmosphere around this earth to make life.
No other planet has it, but this one does. And he put us here,
and it's just perfect. I wonder how scientists fly this
thing. Yeah, I'm going to go into that. The firmament is just
right for life, isn't it? The atmosphere, just right. I
mean, it's just right. Not too severe, not too this.
When it is, life dies. Verses 9 through 10, God said,
Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together. That's
the sea. He created the sea. Verse 10, He called the dry land
earth, the sea, and the land. What good things? Oceans. Anybody ever spend time on the
ocean? Some of you sailors have. You didn't think much about it
then, did you, Henry? But it's a good thing, the ocean. What
a vast mysterious and glorious and marvelous and unfathomable
thing the ocean is. Life on this planet comes from
the ocean. You know that? You know that
the ocean replenishes the atmosphere? Without the ocean's waters, the
goat rise up and come back down to water the earth, you wouldn't
have life on this planet. You stand on the seashore sometimes
and watch God's mighty creation. It comes roaring in, you know.
You know all the tidal waves and hurricanes and all that comes
in, you think it's going to destroy, it's going to take away the land.
No, God says come this far, no further. If you look at Florida from an
aerial view, you know the highest place in Florida, man I'm getting
off, the highest place in Florida is about 15 degree, 15 feet above
sea level, 15 feet. That means one big wave could
wipe it out. God says, no. That land, this
land, some of you like to hunt and go out in the woods. Aren't the woods a fire or something
else? 11 and 12, God said, let the
earth bring forth grass. You ever gone out in the big
field of grass and lay there? And then I did that one time
up on the parkway on a nice sunshiny day, you know, a big brown field
of grass, put a quilt out there to lay down. We, we both thought
this is the greatest thing ever was. Land, herbs, trees, he talks
about him making trees and fruit. Oh, you could go on and on and
talk about bananas and tangerines and cherries and strawberries
and just keep them to make, my, my, good things. Aren't they
good things? Good things. Verses 14 through
19, God created the sun, the moon, the stars. What a, there's
just a big ball of fire up there, just hanging there. Just keeps
on burning. It's been burning for thousands,
maybe even tens, hundreds of thousands of years. Just keeps
on burning, sustaining life on this planet. Ain't that something?
Aren't we lucky? You just keep burning a big ball
of fire hanging right there, never moving, sustaining life. We need it every day. The minute
it goes out, we're gone. It just keeps hanging there.
Bless God Almighty for the sunshine. You know, it gets a little hot.
You're murmuring, complaining. It gets a little too hot for
us. God ought to snuff us out, shouldn't
he? The moon, ever lay out at night, the moon, the full moon,
the stars, what a marvelous creation, good things. Verse 20, God said,
Let the waters bring forth a moving creature, fish and fowl. Any
fishermen in here? Some people would rather fish
than eat it. Fish, all of the creatures in
the ocean. Verses 24 through 25, the animals
on the earth, just keep naming them. Horses, some of you horse
lovers, I don't think there's a more beautiful animal on the
face of the earth than a horse, other than man. Horses, my cow,
they have served mankind down through the years, haven't they?
Beasts of burden. Yet they just, what if God didn't
create the fear of man in a horse? Giddy up, Joe, I ain't going
to do it. I'm going to ride you, if he
wanted to. Animals on the face of the earth,
God put the fear in them to serve man. What good things? Giraffes,
tigers, lions, cats, even old cats. John, early, we're early. Even these old felines are worth
something. Boy, he saved the best here for
last. Look at verses 26 through 30.
God said, let us make man in our image. What a creature. They say he
came from a monkey. That's about the most absurd
thing. Just put a monkey upside a man, see if there's any similarity
at all. Well, some, granted, are somewhat
like monkeys, but for the most part, for the most part, come
on, look in the face of a monkey and look in the face of a man.
You'll see the image of God imprinted on the face of the man. A monkey can't create a symphony,
a monkey can't paint a picture, a monkey can't even drive an
automobile, a monkey can't do brain surgery. Man, what a creature,
what a good thing God has created. In verse 31, God saw everything
that he had made and behold, he was very good, very good, very good. Every good gift coming down from
above, from the Father. Every good gift. All that man
needs to sustain life on this planet. All he needs. But what
did man say? It's not good enough. Isn't it? You know what Adam
said? It's not enough. And that's us. I've got everything that my heart
could desire. But yet, when I murmur and complain,
I say, it's not enough. Man, Adam, our great-great-great-great-grandfather,
said he wanted something more. He wanted more. He wanted what he couldn't have.
Isn't that us? Isn't that a child, a little
child? You tell it it can have anything, but that, what's the
first thing it's going to go to? You say you can go in every room,
but when you close that door, he'll do everything he can to
get in that door. In that us, God gives us everything that
we could possibly desire. It's not enough. Not enough. I want what I can't have. Man
wanted his will, not God's. Adam wanted his will, not God's.
And we're the same way. Adam wanted to be God. Ultimately,
that's what Adam wanted. He wanted to be God. So man failed. If we could enter into this,
people, this is where it all started. This is where all of
our troubles started. You know, every pain, every misery,
every trouble, every plague, every sickness, everything known
to man was a result of what happened in that garden. Man fell, and
great was the fall of mankind. Great was the fall of mankind. Man fell, but God didn't, in
His goodness, think about this, God still did not withhold all
of these things. The sun, the moon, the seas,
the oceans, the stars, the plants, He still, God's too good. He
still did not withhold these good things, but he continued
to give man all these good things, except from then that day forward,
Rick, he said, you're not just going to sit around and eat now.
You're going to have to earn your bread by the sweat of your
brow. And boy, you'll rue the day that
you ever said it wasn't good enough. You'll long for the day
that you just sat back and let God feed you. Isn't it? And then Mayer had to go to work.
Oh, boy. Don't you know the first blister
that popped up on his hand, Brother Henry, as he was out there hoeing?
He didn't have to hoe a garden. He just go out and pick a fruit.
Pick a Mayer. He didn't have to plant them.
Well, he go out there and the first blister he got on his hand,
he couldn't hold the hoe any longer. He said, Oh, my, what
have I done? Didn't he? What about when he
went out and saw his son's brains bashed on the ground? Oh, what
have I done? Oh, now to listen to God! But God still kept providing
for him, still kept, even though he earned from that day forward
to work hard by the sweat of his brow, he's still a gift.
I don't care how hard you work for it, he still gives it to
you. He still gives all the raw materials for us to make our
clothing with, and still gives the seeds to grow our fruit with
and our food with, doesn't he? He's still a gift, still a gift,
even though we have to do some work. But you know, there were
some really good things that man lost completely. He didn't lose those things,
but there were some really good things that came down from the Father
that he lost completely. I'll tell you what he lost. You
know, he had a good thing, and he didn't know it until he lost
it. And man today doesn't know it, and he's lost it. But Adam
had God's presence. Adam had God's presence, and
I've tried to describe to you what before, and I can't do it,
but you know what God's presence means to this world and us? You
know what I mean? People, if you want to find out
what it's like without God's presence, go down into to the
bad and the gutters and crack houses and places where God lifted
all of his restraints where murder and rape and robbery and violence
and absolute perversion and filth and iniquity bound with no restraints
whatsoever right there is God having removed himself and how
much would help on a big man left himself totally. God everything
good and merciful and kind and gracious and loving and in this
planet, everything enjoyable, it's the hand of God holding
it down, sustaining it, keeping it. When God removes himself,
there's darkness. God's presence. He lost it. Adam
lost it. God kicked him out. He felt alone.
He'd never been alone before. Adam never felt loneliness before.
Some of you feel loneliness. Isn't that one of the most grievous
things you go through? Loneliness. You widows know loneliness,
don't you? Adam never felt loneliness before.
He had God. He was always happy. He always
had a friend that stuck it closer than a brother. But then he felt
loneliness. Why? I'm sure there were days
he'd go by and say, I need something, somebody. I don't know what it
is. You ever been through that? I need something. And you just
want to despair, and Adam lost that. God's favor. You know,
a smile of God means everything. The acceptance of God, the approval
of God, it's life. Really good things. As I said
a moment ago, really good things. We must have all of these things
to really enjoy other good things. You can't enjoy the sun unless
you see God made it for you. You'll murmur against it, right? You can't enjoy the food that
you get unless you see God gave it to you. It'll just be, you
know, everyday fare, won't it? And you'll murmur and complain
that it's not tenderloin when it's, you know, fatback. When you see that God gave it,
you'll appreciate fatback, won't you? Everything is enjoyed, truly
enjoyed, in light of the fact that God gave it to us and didn't
have to do it. Life of more abundance, life
enjoyed to its fullest. You can enjoy the simplest things
when you realize that God gave it. Man lost all that. He lost the favor of God, the
presence of God, the approval of God, the smile of God. Do
you ever, as a child, do you remember ever being under the
displeasure of your parents? Nothing was going to be right
until that was, until you were reconciled, was it? Huh? Do you
remember that? Steve, I do, because I was always
that way so much of the time. I was always under the displeasure
of my father so much. I know what that felt like. It
was miserable. And nothing was right until I
got out from under that, until we were reconciled together.
And it hadn't been too many years now that we have been reconciled. And Land lost all that. He lost
the presence of God, the favor of God, the acceptance of God,
the approval of God, the smile of God, the affection of God
as a father. And now, even though he has many
things, he has all the food that he could eat, all the clothes
he could wear, all the nice house and all the things he could play
with, all the pretty play toys. He didn't have one thing made
for him. He didn't have God. And man is
miserable. Why do you think you're miserable?
Why are we miserable most of the day, most of the time, huh? And so it is with everyone who
knows not God. You may have all of the world's
good. Why is it that a man who's a billionaire wants another billion,
huh? It doesn't satisfy. Why is it we could have the finest
house money can buy and a fine car and all the food we need?
It's not good enough. Why? We're miserable. It's something
we don't have, and we don't know what it is, and we want it. Right?
I'll tell you what that something is. It's not. But God. Even though man lost
all that. favor of God, the love of God,
the acceptance of God, the smile of God, the approval of God,
the presence of God. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loves to spare some people
some mercy, being the good God that he is, and according to
his all-wise, sovereign will and purpose, God saved the greatest
gift for last. Look at it here, back in our
text, James 1. Read the text. It says, comes from above, every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above. Now, stay with me,
all right? Now, I didn't prepare this because
it's Christmas, my soul. It struck me after I prepared
it, hey, they're going to think it's a Christmas sermon, my soul. If anything, I'll preach against
it. sun, air, water, food, clothing,
happiness. Those are good things, but do
you know they're imperfect? You know that they depend on
each other? You've got to have all the other
ones, you've got to have them all together. They're good things,
but they're all needed for each to be enjoyed. They're all necessary
to each other. What if you could put all these
things Wrap all these things up in one. It'd be a perfect gift, wouldn't
it? Huh? It'd be a perfect gift, a complete
gift. You know, God did that, every perfect gift. You know,
the old saying goes like this, what do you give the man who
has everything? You've heard that saying, haven't you? At
this time of the year, you're looking for gifts for certain
people who seem to have about everything there is to have,
and you say, what do you give the man who has everything? You
know what God said? What do I give the man who has
nothing? You know what God said? I'll
give him everything. I'll give him everything. I'll
give him my son. God bless you then, my well-beloved,
only begotten son. The complete gift, the perfect
gift, just what he needs and just when he needs him most.
The perfect gift, the complete gift. Scripture says in him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body, in a person. And God
said about this son of his, he said, he'll be my people's son,
S-U-M. He'll be there. They won't need
the S-U-N anymore. They'll have the S-O-N now. The
sun. He'll be light. He'll be understanding. He'll be life. He'll be warmth.
He'll be the source of their eternal life. The sun. He said
they need air. I'll let the sun be their air,
their breath, their spirits, their numos. What's air mean?
Spiritual life. They don't need Earthly life
is going to die. They need spiritual life, though.
The sun will be there. Christ said, because I live,
you live also. Spiritual life. They need water.
Christ said, I'm the water of life. He made him the water of
life, Terry. If any man drink, he'll never
thirst again. Never. Just one long, cool, satisfying
draught of Christ, and he'll never thirst again. Not for anything
really Christ's blood is water you need to wash in, don't you?
You need water to wash in. Some of us ought to avail ourselves
a little more of it. But Christ washed us completely
from our sins in his own blood. Filthy, vile, wretched, stinking,
altogether going stinking, Psalm 14 says, he washed us whiter
than snow. We needed that kind of cleansing.
Christ be our water. Food, Christ said, I'm the bread
of life. I'm the bread of life. Any man
eat of me, he'll never hunger again. Food, the bread of life,
clothing, clothing, we think we have to stay up with the latest
fashions. You know, somebody said, I dress like a preppy.
Well, so be it. You know, I've got to make myself
look somewhat good, you know. The rest of me, from the neck
up, you know, I'm pretty bad. So I try to dress the rest of
it up. But Christ is our clothing, and what a beautiful covering.
A robe of righteousness. You know, God sees us without
this robe, this wedding garment. He says we look bad. But in the
perfect righteousness of Christ, that perfect life that he lived,
God says, you're beautiful. Just like that child in Ezekiel,
you're beautiful. Put on those earrings and that
ring and the clothing and so forth. Pleasure. We want pleasure,
don't we? We look for it in this life.
Pleasure. Christ will be their pleasure, be their joy unspeakable. And nobody in here knows what
I'm talking about unless you've experienced it. That's the reason
why some are looking at me with such dull faces, you know, like,
I don't understand what you're saying. But to those who understand
something and experience some of this joy unspeakable, There's
nothing that quite gives you pleasure. The complete gift is Christ. The scripture says you are complete
in him. You might not have all the food
you need if you're complete in Christ. You might not have a
big fine house. A prison would a palace appear,
though, if Christ would dwell with me there. The man that wrote
that was in prison. He knew what he was talking about. It's from above and cometh down,
cometh down. I like that in Isaiah 55, let
righteousness, let the skies open up and pour down righteousness. Let the earth drink it up. He
came down. All faith doesn't say let's go
up and get him. Faith says he came down to us freely of his
mercy and his grace. Christ came down from the Father.
He left the bosom of the Father. This is what makes it an unspeakable
gift. This is what makes it an unspeakable
gift. What if I sold all of my earthly
goods and gave them to the poor and took them with me and moved
to a foreign country? went and lived among those people
and bestowed all of my earthly goods and talents and time and
all that upon a people who did not have anything. I wouldn't
have to do that, I don't have to do that. He left heaven, came down to
a cesspool, sold all of his heavenly goods and bestowed them to the
poor. He, though he was rich, yet for
our sakes became poor, that we might be rich. He didn't have
to. He didn't have to. But he did.
He came down. The Father sent him out of love
to his people. It says, The Father of Lights.
You see that? He cometh down from the Father
of Lights. God is a consuming fire. We couldn't get near God.
So God came down to us. God veiled himself. Got to put
on something that we can get near to him. Bye. Put a robe
of humanity on. Robe of flesh. Didn't have to.
God! We enter in the presence of God,
we're consumed in a minute. Can't even go where he's near.
People couldn't even touch the mountain that burned the fire.
Animals couldn't get on it, they'd be killed. God came down. I wish we could get a hold of
this. God came down. Put on a body. Said, here I am,
touch me, handle me. I'm God. Put his arm around such
a pitiful, poor little infant. You have to put his arm around
my beloved, my little brood, my child. God is light, consuming fire. God is light, all wisdom, understanding. We don't know anything about
God, do we? Huh? We're flesh. That's what
it is. Flesh is flesh, isn't it? Tell me something about God,
Henry Soar. Come on. You come right up here and you
tell me something about God. Well, you can't. What do you know about
God? Huh? He just operated a service station.
What do I know about God? I came from the railroad, construction
crew. What does anybody know about
God? His ways are best found out, aren't they? They're unsearchable.
So God came down. He said, let me talk to you a
little bit. He didn't have to. He could have
opened his mouth and spoke and we'd be consumed. That's what
he should have done. Consumed us with rebellious people, but
he came down and talked to us. That's what's the beauty of in
the garden there, you know. The Lord God came walking in the
cool of the day and talked to Adam. Johnny should have snuffed
that old boy out, shouldn't he? But he didn't. He came down and
said, now Adam, where are you? Look at what you've done. Where
are you now? What have you gotten yourself into? Adam, I've got
good news for you. He's a good God, isn't he? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name." Let me talk to
you a little bit, God said. Come now, let us reason together.
Though your sins be as scarlet, though you're bound for hell,
though your sins be scarlet, they'll be as white as snow.
Let me talk to you. Let's reason this thing out. You can't do
anything, can you? You rebelled against me, haven't
you? Yeah, I am. It's all right. I'm going to
save you. Not let you let me save me, you. I'm going to save you. Bless you. God bless you. Oh,
you're good. You're good. You know what he
said to Moses? Lord, show me your glory. He
said, I'm going to make my goodness pass before you. I'm a good God. Clare my name to you. Those that
know his name will put their trust in him. What's his name?
Merciful, gracious, long-suffering, compassionate, love. I'm going
to be merciful. I'm going to be gracious. It's
sovereign. But the fact that he has any
at all means he's a good God. Isn't he? Good God. And here's some good news. Come
on now. Look at it with me. Watch with
me for an hour here. Now, I'm not going to keep you
an hour, but that's figure of speech. Watch with me here. Look
at verse 17. Cometh down from the Father a
light with whom is no variableness. What does this mean to us? I'm telling
you, it's salvation right there. It's salvation. You see, God Almighty undertook
to provide for Adam. Henry, he undertook to do everything. Adam didn't earn anything. God
freely gave. to him everything he did it for
the first man. And he'll do it for the last.
What I need to worry about. That's like I said before I didn't
have a car didn't have a house didn't have a stitch clothing
didn't have a TV set can you imagine how you could live life. Without that precious commodity.
But he didn't have any of those things what they had he had caught
and he was happy If he'll undertake to take care
of that, boy, he didn't have a thing. He didn't have the wherewithal
or the know-how to do anything. He'll undertake for me, won't
he? From the day that I believe. Count on it! That's good news.
He that showed mercy to the first man, he'll show mercy to the last.
Yeah, buddy. He'll keep showing it. Scripture
says, His mercy endureth forever. Somebody look it up sometime,
how many times it says that in the Scripture. In the Psalms
alone. One Psalm, it says it thirty-four times. In one Psalm. His mercy endureth forever. That's
salvation, Terry. No variables. He showed mercy
to the first man, he's going to show mercy to me. I can count
on it. Because he was the first sinner's
Savior, he'll be my Savior, God my Savior. Because he was long-suffering,
what about those children of Israel in the wilderness? Huh? Oh, what a motley crew. What
a rebellious bunch of idiots. Couldn't they see the hand of
God? Huh? Couldn't those children of Israel
see what all God's done for them? Couldn't they see God's leadership,
God's guidance, God's goodness? Can I see it? If they turned
and rebelled against God on every hand, yet God kept showing mercy
and kept showing grace and kept providing for them. Can't I see
that? Because he put up with that motley
crew out there, he'll put up with this motley crew in here
a little longer. The long-suffering of the Lord
is salvation, Peter said. You can get a hold of this. God
is long-suffering. That's salvation. How long must
I suffer thee? Christ said, all my days, Lord,
all my days. And he does. Why? He's good God. He's God. That's his name. Because
God put up with old Jacob. Anybody know anything about Jacob?
He was a thief, a scoundrel. He sold it. He schemed and connived
to get his brother's blessings and birthright. His flesh and
blood, John. He didn't have that much respect
for his own blood brother. Schemed and connived and wiggled
his way. If you talk about a snake in
the grass, Jacob, God says, I'm going to have mercy on you, Jacob.
I'm going to have mercy on you, Jacob, because God puts up with
the likes of Jacob. You know, he'll put up with Jacob's
sons, those that are just like him. I bury the family resemblance.
What about you? What about you, Joe? Yeah, you
look like, they should have named you Jacob, Joe. You look just
like him. We look just like him. And God
said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you old, worthless,
vile, wretched, wicked sons of Jacob, you're not concerned.
I'm not going to snuff you out. That's the gospel, isn't it? And all who call upon him in
wrestling prayer, like Jacob, receive a blessing. Not only
mercy, but grace. God changed his name. Not only
did he not kill him, he blessed him. I'm an Israel prince. I'm going
to call you. You know what I'm going to call that old snake?
Let me find a snake in here. I mean a really bad snake. Ed
Berry. There's one. Worst of the bunch. Right, Ed? Do you admit that?
I'm going to change your name, he says, from Ed Berry to Christian. Christian. Son of God. Him? You gotta be kidding. Sammy? Yeah. Him. The worst. The worst of the month. We'll
make him like Christ. Christian. Son of God. Behold!
Any reason why, any wonder why John hollered that out? Behold
what manner of love the Father bestowed upon us. That we should
be called sons of God. Sons of Satan, Terry, to sons
of God. Is there any possibility, you
know, our parents give us up for adoption? Some of you are orphans in here. What a horrible trial it'd be
for a child. You know, he said a mother may
forsake her second child, but will I forsake my children? No
way. No way. Any possibility God will
take it back? said, I've had it with you now.
Don't you think, John, that's what he ought to do every now
and every day? You think to yourself, God, that's
it now? God's put up with me this long
and he says no more. Any possibility of that happening? No way. Why? James 1.17 says
no variables. He never varies. He never changes. He said, I've made with you an
everlasting covenant. Lord, you know something I hate
in people? Let me just be frank with you
and I'll close. You know what moodiness is? You know what moodiness is? Moodiness
makes a person unpredictable. Unstable as water. Like a wave
of the sea. Tossed to and fro, drift up one
day, nice, down the next, mean. up one day real positive and
down today everything's miserable. Up and down. That's instability. You know what that means? That's
instability. That's the lowest form, or the
highest form of instability. You know what maturity is? You
know what spiritual maturity is? Consistency. The same. You know what I look
for in people who claim to be mature believers? I look for
stability. Consistency. Not a man of that same account
of the person who is. You know where that comes from
you know the scripture says we let patients have her perfect
worth you may be perfect or as mature entire wanting nothing
It says in visions for he says that we may grow up in him and
all Christ like, you know, Christ. God. Never changes. You can count on him. You know,
he's always the same. Don't you like people that are
always the same? You can count on him. He's going to be there.
He's the same stable. Parents need that kind of. of
children in that kind of parent. Churches need that kind of pastor.
People need that kind of leader sign of. Pastors need that kind
of people. Saying we've got. State got the
God never change. Never change it is no shadow
of turning. No shadow of turning, you know,
you know, you need not have a shadow of a doubt concerning God Almighty. I doubt myself. Who say anything
about yourself? Who say anything about looking
to yourself? Who say anything about where you're going to look
and see? No, who say anything about that? He said, look unto
me and be ye saved. Yeah, but I'm a sinner. He said,
that's the kind of need to look. Why? He said, I came to save
sinners. Well, he won't save me. Yes,
he will. He never changes. He saved the worst one back then.
He'll save the worst one now. He ain't no worse than they were
back then. He never changes. No variableness. He's always
the same. Always merciful. Always gracious.
This is the good news, folks. Always kind. Always long-suffering. You can keep coming to this Heavenly
Father and not fear that he'll turn on you. Oh, Daddy might
be drunk today and might kill me. Not my Heavenly Father. He's
always the same. I can confess all my faults to
him, all my sins to him. I confess up everything to him,
and he'll forgive me. That's salvation. What's salvation? He's salvation. Great is thy faithfulness. He
never changes. It's always the same. Ain't no
shadow of a turning, no shadow of a doubt. My pardon to the
people of Cherokee, but God's no Indian giver. God's no Indian giver. He doesn't
give anything and take it back. We're bad about that. I don't
know why they blame that on the Indians, because, you know, a
white man's just as bad. We give them all this land and
give them the land. We took it away from them. We
give back what was theirs to begin with, and we took it back.
Now we've got them all in a little huddle in different places. God's
no Indian giver. He never takes it. Gifts and
calling of God without repentance. I give unto thee, who? Thee. Who's thee? Sinners. You mean
words? Yes, all that call on Christ.
Well, I've called. Keep calling. I give unto thee,
yes thee, eternal life, and you'll never perish. Why? If you keep
yourself? No, because great is his faithfulness. He never changes. No variable. And you can rest on that no shadow
of a doubt. I mean that's really don't you
have a shadow of a doubt. It concerns God Almighty and
his work count on it. You know it honors God. Stand
with me. Faith honors God. That's why
we live by faith. Come in a day when we Not going
to live by faith, we'll live by sight, we'll see. But now,
it honors God to live by faith. God says, you believe in me,
I'll do this for you. And even though we can't see
him, we've never seen him actually with his eyes, we've never heard
his actual voice and all. Say, Lord, this is what you say,
I believe this, I believe what it says, and I believe, and I'm
going to act. God will honor that. And God
will give you the proof. Faith is a substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He'll give you proof
after the fact, after the faith, not vice versa. This world's
looking for signs and wonders so they can believe God. God
said, No way, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to give
it. An evil and adulterous generation. Believing people, they believe
God first, and God proves himself to us. It's so. It's so. Jesus Jesus how I love
him how I proved him or and or you know anything about what
they say. I can't say that we have to look perfection but he
has proved we prove him by taking him at his word and he honored
that word he does exactly what he said have you ever had that
your experience that go without. You need whatever. And he asked
God for and he provides it Then why should we ever doubt? There's
no variables, there's no shadow of a turning. Why? I'm not going to stand there
any longer.