Chapter 3, and Ruby's back in
Crossville. She's at Windridge. They finally
brought her up there today. I'm sure the family's very grateful,
and we are too, that she's back where we can go see her. And
she'll be out there for a week or two. She can get around good
on her own. Very grateful. Very, very grateful. Very thankful that Peggy's been
able to come three services a week now for a good while. I'm very
grateful for that. That's such a blessing. Such
a blessing. And of course, we want to remember
Bill and Dorotha. He started chemo again yesterday,
and it always leaves him in bad shape for a good while. So please
remember them. And before I was going to read
one verse of scripture, before I do that, let's pray together.
Read one verse of scripture. Verse one, and Gary's going to
lead us in another hymn. And the child Samuel ministered
unto the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious
in those days. There was no open vision. No. It says here, and I want
to repeat it again, and the part that I want to use is, and the
word of the Lord was precious in those days and there was no
open vision. And I want to talk about when
God goes silent, when God doesn't speak. And Israel's history at
this time, it was a lawless time, a rebellious time. Judges 21,
25 says that there was no king in Israel, so every man did that
which was right in his own eyes. And that's pretty much where
they was. And corruption was all around. I mean, corruption
was everywhere. And it was especially around
the tabernacle with Hophni and Phinehas and the things that
they did. That's why God was going to kill
them. I mean, there was corruption
around everywhere. In the priesthood, and all the
things that deeded. And then Eli was the high priest
and he didn't do anything to correct his sons. He didn't do
anything and unwilling to do anything about the wickedness
that was prevailing in his day. And it says the word of the Lord
was precious in those days, no open vision. And that word precious
means rare. The word of the Lord was rare
in those days. The word of the Lord was rare.
I mean, God was silent. He wasn't speaking. He wasn't
speaking. He already pronounced judgment
on Eli, pronounced judgment on his two sons, killed them both
in one day. Eli's an old man, fell over backwards
and died. So God was silent, He wasn't
speaking. And we know this, that God can
only be known by revelation. God must reveal Himself. And
He doesn't reveal Himself to everyone. But the way that He
has revealed Himself to everyone is in creation. The heavens declare
the glory of God. The firmament all the things
that's on this earth shows his handiwork. And Paul said that
this was so sure and so definite and so clear that the invisible
things that was before that by the creation was seen by everything
that was made so that every man by the eternal Godhead seen as
made by the eternal Godhead that every man is left without an
excuse. Now, I know that people want
to try to, and here's the thing about it. Men, and this is the
whole thing, the Word of the Lord's rare. And when you find
where the Word of the Lord is rare, people will believe in
evolution, they'll believe in a Big Bang Theory, they'll believe
something come up out of the ooze one day and sprouted a leg
here, sprouted a leg there, and got a brain here, and went down
through millions and billions of years, and here's where we
end up at. There's only one thing wrong with that. It's not true.
It's not true. The heavens declare, now the
only people that if the heavens declare God's glory, and if we
see it, David said, oh, when I consider the heavens, the stars,
the sun and moon that thou hast to ordain, I say, what is man
that you even mindful of him? And oh, so Paul says, you look
at the creation, and that's gonna leave men without excuse. This
world goes on, has been on, and will continue to go on until
God destroys this one here and creates a new one. Shirley asked
me the other day, she said, you reckon there'll be animals? We
were standing watching a few deer the other day, and she said,
you reckon there'll be animals in the new creation? I said,
I believe there will be. I believe there will be, I believe.
And there won't be no curse. There won't be no curse. You
won't have to plow a mule. You won't have to break a horse.
You won't even have to plow your gardens. I'm telling you, isn't
this new heaven, new earth? It's going to be mysterious,
but yeah, there's going to be animals. Why wouldn't there be?
We enjoy them so much here, how much you reckon you'll enjoy
them there when we ain't got the curse and they don't have
the curse? And I tell you, but here's something about God's
creation that it doesn't reveal. We're talking about God's revelation. Creation doesn't reveal God is
just and justifier. You can't look at the stars and
see that God is a just God. You can't look at the mountains
and the firmament and say God's a just God and that He's the
only one who can justify the ungodly. You can't see that in
the stars and the sun and the moon and the firmament. You cannot
see blood redemption looking at the stars. You can't see Christ
and His death and His sacrifice looking at the heavens or looking
on this earth. No, no. That can only be known by God
making it known. God can only be known by Himself. And you go through the scriptures
and He reveals Himself directly, directly to man. You know the
first man He revealed Himself to and spoke to was Adam. And
He asked him three questions if I remember right. He said,
Adam, Where are you? Well, I was afraid, and I was
naked. Who told you you was naked? Did
you eat of that fruit of that tree that I told you when you
would, you would die? God spoke directly to that. And
you know the next person He spoke directly to? He spoke to Noah.
He said, Noah, listen, I'm going to send a flood. This world don't
even ain't seen rain, but I'm going to send a flood. And he
being warned of things not seen as yet, moved with fear. and
prepared an ark to the saving of his house. And then you go,
and then God appeared to Abraham. Out of all the men on the earth,
the God of glory appeared to Abraham. And he called him Abraham,
Abraham. Called him his friend. He one
time was sitting with Abraham, him and those two men, when they
was gonna go down and destroy Sodom. He said, you think we
should hide this from Abraham? For he knows, he knows us, and
he knows what we're gonna do. Let's just talk to him and tell
him what we're gonna do. He spoke to Isaac, spoke to Jacob,
and spoke to Israel through Moses. Look over here in Exodus 33.
Exodus 33. You know, in verse 11, oh, God
speaks to men. He spoke to men then, and that's
why He says, you know, He spoke to men. But I'll tell you how
He spoke to men, and we'll get to that. God speaks by His Word,
and His Word had to be, it has to be the Lord Jesus Christ.
But look what He said here in verse 11. And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face, face to face. We get up face to face. And when we get too close to
somebody, they'll say, you invading my space. God brought him and
Moses face to face. That's what it says here. As
a man speaketh unto his friend, and he turned again into the
camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man,
departed not out of the tabernacle. And when Moses died, God said
to Joshua, He said, Joshua, my servant Moses has died. Now,
now you're gonna go on the side, you're gonna go across the river
and take that land that I promised to Moses and the Lord's people. But Israel, Israel was a rebellious
people, just like people are today. And God spoke loudly,
clearly by the prophets. Look what he said, and I'll show
you another thing here in Joshua 24. Look what Joshua said here. And I remember preaching on this
years and years ago. Joshua 24 15. Oh, and Israel
was rebellious. He spoke loudly and clearly by
his prophets and he warned them and he told them and all he says
here in verse 15, now what a statement to say, what a thing to ask somebody.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord. Ain't that
a way to talk to somebody? If it seem evil to you to serve
the Lord. What a question to ask somebody.
Is it evil for you all to be here tonight? Is it evil for
us to come into the presence of the Lord? To enjoy God, enjoy
the word, enjoy Christ, enjoy the gospel of Christ? That's
what he said, if it's evil to you to serve the Lord, I tell
you what you do then, you choose this day whom you will serve.
Now he never mentioned God, but he says this, whether you'll
serve the gods which your father served when you were on the other
side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land
you dwell, but as for me and my house, we're going to serve
the Lord. Now look what he goes down there
and they all said, Oh no, no, no, Moses, we're going to serve
the Lord. We're going to serve the Lord. Look what Moses said
down verse 19. And Joshua said unto the people,
you cannot serve the Lord for he's a holy God. He is a jealous
God. He will not forgive your sins
and your transgressions. Because you said you've already
decided that serving the Lord is evil and you're going to serve
them other gods. Over in Kings, 1 Kings, it says
over there that they feared the Lord and served their own God. That's one of the most, this
says that three or four times. They feared the Lord and served
other gods. How can that, you just, you read
things that astonish you, astonish you. But oh, beloved, when the
people, and here's the way it is today, when people continue
in sin, the voice of God becomes more and more silent. And you know God's not speaking
is one of the awfulest things can happen to a person. I know
when God goes silent on me, it manifests itself in my preaching,
manifests itself in my reading, It manifests myself in the way
I think. It manifests myself in my relationships
with my wife, with you. It manifests itself. When God
goes silent on me, I'm in trouble, and my trouble comes out. And
you may not see it, and I know what happens to you too. But
listen, the absence of God's Word is a sign of judgment. When God takes His Word and the
Word becomes rare, it's a sign of judgment. But where the Word
has free course, it's a sign of judgment. God's grace oh and
God's that's why if you know we go to these these grace churches
and go in fellowship with our brethren we don't have to worry
about when these men come in here what they gonna say the
words got free course and that's the way it is where we go and
let me show you something now Amos Daniel you go to Daniel
then there's Hosea Joel and Amos. I think that's the way it is.
And I want you to look at something in Amos. Yep, Hosea, Joel, and
then Amos. In Amos chapter 8. Look what
the Lord says here. Oh, the word of the Lord was
rare in those days. There was no open vision. God
turned out the light. But here's what happens, and
we're here now. Amos 8, 11. Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I'll send a famine in the land, not
a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But a famine of what? But of hearing of the words of
the Lord. Did you notice that? He says,
hearing it. Not the preaching of it, the
hearing of it. That's when God goes silent. People say, well
listen, I'm not much interested in the word of God. I'm not much
interested in the gospel. I want to hear some good music.
I want to see somebody get up and put on some kind of a play.
I want to see a skit. I want to see some puppet talk.
I want something done for the kids. I want to go to church
and have fun. Oh my, and they shall wander
from sea to sea, from the north even to the east. They shall
run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find
it. Oh my. And they said, I'll send a famine
for the hearing of the word of the Lord. And beloved, I've told
you, I've told you this before. You listen, you listen to most
preachers on the radio and even their advertisements. And Christ
is rarely, rarely, rarely mentioned. And they don't even mention God's
word. They tell you what, how you can come dressed, how you
can, what service days the services are, what they're teaching on,
what they're going to be teaching on for the next week, whether
it's prophecy or money management or relationships or whatever
it is, they're going to tell you that. But God went silent
for 400 years. 400 years he never said a word until
one day John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
Judea and they said who are you? Are you that Christ? Are you
the prophet? He said I'm the voice! God finally spoke. I'm the voice of one crying in
the wilderness. Repeat! and turn to the Lord,
every one of you. Don't think to say we have Abraham
to our father. God's able to raise up stones
to Abraham. Oh my. And in the last days of
the judgments, oh, the word of the Lord was rare. It was a time
of silence. God's voice was seldom heard.
Great, great spiritual darkness. That's why he says, you know,
in there in 1 Samuel 3, 1, the word of the Lord was rare in
those days. No open vision. It was in absolute
silence. It was rare. Visions didn't hardly
come at all. But he wasn't going to leave
himself without a witness. We'll start that next week. He's
going to raise up Samuel. And Samuel is going to be a man
that God uses mightily all over Egypt. I mean, all over Israel. He's going to use Samuel very,
very mightily. He's going to be his voice in
these days. But I'll tell you what, bless
the Lord. He has spoken. He has spoken. And he spoke through
his son. You know, and it says in sundry
times and in different manners, God in time past spake unto the
fathers by the prophets. In sundry manners, dreams and
visions and different ways of speaking to them. But bless his
name in these last days, and the last days started when Christ
came. In these last days he has spoken
unto us in son. Now I want to show you something. I'm going to show you how precious
the Word of God is. Look over here in 2 Peter. 2
Peter chapter 1. I want you to see this. This is how precious God's Word
is. It's not rare for us, but it
is rare in a lot of places you go. There's places you go, they
don't even take Bibles. There's a place out here north
of town where the preacher gets up and they're holding his people.
Now, I mean, they speak in tongues and lay hands on one another
and jump up and down and clap hands and all that kind of stuff.
Got a big band stage and got all kinds of instruments on it.
And he gets up and preaches in flip-flops and with just nothing
but a t-shirt or something on. And they're not interested in
God's Word. They're too much interested in
noise, noise, noise, noise. There used to be a fella, you
know, back from years and years ago, and I was just learning
the gospel, but one thing I did know, and you all know this,
I could, I know the scriptures, I could quote scripture. Now
I didn't all know what sometimes it meant, you know, but I remember
one old boy sitting over there one day, and every time you'd
say something, he'd just start going, amen, amen! And you didn't, you know, he
wouldn't even hear what you said, and I finally stopped and said,
what did I just say? Never said another word to sir. But you know, he just wasn't
even listening to what you said. He was just making a noise. And
I finally stopped and said, what did I just say? I shut him up. But we're so used to stuff like
that that people didn't pay any attention to it. But oh my, look
what happens here in verse 616 here now, 2 Peter 116. For we
have not followed cunningly devised fables, men's fables, stories
made up by men. When we made unknown unto you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were also eyewitnesses
of his majesties talking about being on the Mount of Transfiguration.
For he received from God the Father honor and glory when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which
came from heaven we heard, we heard when we were with him in
the holy mountain. Boy, oh boy. Man, fella get up
and make a testimony like that, people just, oh my, he saw the
Lord, he heard the God speak. But now watch what he says. But
we have a more sure word of prophecy than what I saw on that mountain.
We have a more sure word of prophecy. And it do you well to take heed
as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn
and the day star rise in your heart. And that's what he was
talking about. Oh my, the word of God is quick. sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart, and all scriptures given
by inspiration of God. And we are, we are right now,
ourselves living in a day of spiritual famine, spiritual famine. And what Amos said is as true
today as it was when he said it. Now how in the world can
we say that when we got a Bible in front of us with God's full
revelation and his blessed word? How can we say that? Well, I'll
tell you why. I'm going to give you two reasons.
Two reasons. First reason is this. It isn't
proclaimed loudly. Men do not esteem the Word as
high as it ought to be esteemed. Out here in the world, out in
religion, out in churches, it isn't proclaimed loudly. And
the second reason is, it isn't being solemnly received. Solemnly
received. You know, God's Word isn't being
proclaimed loudly. It isn't. And what I mean loudly
is not by noise, but proclaimed as truth. Proclaimed honorably. Proclaimed truly. proclaimed
as it is, not by an opinion, not by a thought, not by our
reasoning, but what God himself said. When we say Christ is all,
that's a loud proclamation from God's word. When we say that
there's only one righteousness that God will accept, and that's
Christ's righteousness, that's a loud proclamation. When we
say that man is an absolute sinner, grace of God, that's a loud proclamation. And so that's what I'm talking
about, the proclamation being true, being right, and proclaiming
what's right. Oh my, and I tell you what, God's
word must be held in high esteem, high esteem. I was reading the
other day, and some of you have read this, in Ezra, and when
they built them a big pulpit, and everybody got there in front
of them, and they opened up the book, and they began to read
out of the book, and when they started reading, everybody stood
up when the word of God was read, when the word of God was read.
And I tell you, the preaching of the Word, and this is it right
here, the preaching of the Word must be considered valuable. Valuable to you, valuable to
your souls, valuable to your children. Preaching of the Word
must be considered valuable, worth the highest thing in your
heart and soul. I mean, it's so valuable that
you cannot do without it. And that's what I mean when there's
coming a famine of hearing, there'll come a time When the word's not
valuable to somebody, then the less value they have on it, and
the less value, and they start losing the value of it. In a
little while, they'll miss the service here. A little while
later, they'll miss service there. A little while later, you'll
see them every month. A little while later, you'll
see them every six weeks. A little while later, you'll
see them every three months. The next thing you know, they're
gone. You know why? Because the gospel, the word
of God, it loses its value to them. They have this famine for
hearing. They sit and hear the same thing,
but they don't hear. Oh my, when it loses its value, people leave
it, leave it. Oh my soul, God help me never
to leave it. I may lose my mind one of these
days, but I'll never leave it by a deliberate act of mine unless
I lose my mind. But people, they want to have
fun. Oh my, we're going to have a
special day. And they like to have somebody get up. They got
Christian comedians now, you know. Christian comedian. What makes a Christian comedian?
You know, we just, you just can't, but that's what they call ourselves.
Oh, the word was rare in those days. Proverbs 29 says this,
it says, when there is no vision, in those days there was no open
vision, when there's no vision, people perish. And I hope I'm
this way. You know, I've done some bad
preaching over the years. I've done some sorry preaching.
You know it and I know it. I ain't trying to excuse myself
in no way, but pastors must understand that preaching and teaching is
the scripture. Preaching and teaching, what
God says, is their only reason for existence. If we don't do
that, there's no reason for us to succeed. Go do something else.
Henry May, and you say that all the time, you don't, I don't
have, you know, if you can do anything but preach it, go do
it. And if you don't want to preach, go do something else.
But if you're going to preach, be sure you preach God's word
as it is, as it is. And I tell you what, me as a
preacher and pastor, I have no reason to exist apart from the
gospel. Is that not right? Preaching
that word. And that's what Timothy said, you know. Oh, listen. He said, you give attendance
to the reading of the scriptures and the word, and the word. Be
instant in season, out of season. God said, I tell you, God said,
preach the word. Instant in season, out of season.
And I want to show you something, Jeremiah 3.15. Jeremiah 3.15. Look what God says here. Jeremiah
3.15. We're talking about the word
of the Lord being rare. Word of the Lord being rare.
You know those folks that's been coming here that he works on
the riverboat. They went a lot of places and
said, boy, when they found out about this place, you know, through
here and through Don Fortner or something, come to our conference.
But oh my, look what he says here now. In Jeremiah 3.15, and
I will give you pastor according to mine heart, and listen to
this now, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Now, how many times Have I preached
something from, say, Genesis or Exodus or some other place
in the Scripture? And you'll say, I never saw that
before. I didn't even know that was in
there. That's what God calls us to give knowledge of His Word
and understanding of it. And sometimes when I'm preaching,
I get new light and understanding right while I'm preaching. And
that's one of the most glorious things that could ever possibly
happen to you. God opens your mind while you're preaching.
Ain't it, Gary? Ain't it obvious? It's just incredible.
And that's why Paul says, you know, feed the church of God,
feed the flock, which God purchased with their own blood. And when
they're not, when they're not, when pastors aren't given knowledge
and understanding, they're dumb, deaf, blind dogs. You know, shepherds, they use
dogs, often use dogs to help guard the sheep. And a good dog's
always alert, always alert. But you know what it says over
in Isaiah 56.10? They're blind and they're ignorant. You know why they're blind, dumb,
and ignorant? Because they ain't got nothing
to say. And when the blind lead the blind, you know what's going
to happen? They're both going to end up in the ditch. And they're
silent because they don't say a word because they don't have
nothing to say. And then let me quickly move on with this
right here. I'll hurry up. And then there's
a famine when the word isn't being received solemnly. Now
Hophni and Phinehas, are perfect examples. They had the Word.
Their father was the priest, but they never received it solemnly.
They never took it as it really was. They never took seriously
and solemnly their responsibility as what they were doing as priests.
And the problem wasn't with God's Word, but a lack of hearing,
a lack of appreciating God's Word. And Paul says, you know,
in the last days, men would be lovers of themselves. Heady,
high-minded, unthankful, heaping to themselves, teachers. The
people that they heap to themselves, teachers. They have itching ears,
and so they get them some teachers. And they'll take those ears and
give them, they'll scratch them ears with whatever they want
to hear, and so that itching ear will stop. And they said
they're always learning, never able to come to the truth. But
here's the facts. When I wind this down, God's
word will only benefit us when we hear it. won't do us no good
if we don't hear it. And I do know this, people do
just exactly what they want to do and go where they want to
go. People do what they want to do and go where they want
to go. And I can't do anything about that, only God can. But
I tell you what, and there's another group of people that
only hear what they want to hear. But it's a dangerous, dangerous
thing to reject any part of God's Word, any portion of it, any
portion of it. And I'm going to close over here
in Mark chapter 4. Remember that, look with me in
Mark chapter 4. And remember, the Word of the
Lord was rare in those days. The Word of the Lord was rare
in those days. There was no open vision. God got quiet. The Word of the Lord was rare.
That's why James says, be ye doers of the Word, not hearers
only. Look what our Lord said here in Mark 4, 23. If any man
have ears to hear, let him hear. If you have the ears that God's
opened up to hear, listen. That's what he's saying. Let
him listen. Let him hear. Let him hear. And he said unto
them, take heed what you hear. You take heed to what you're
listening to. And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured
to you. Unto you that hear, I'm gonna give you some more. You
that listen, I'm gonna give you some more. But he that doesn't
listen, for he that hath, to him shall be given. And he that
hath not, that does not hear, even that shall be taken away
which he hath. Oh my, now that's what he says
here. He said, you listen, you better
be sure what you're listening to. He said, and if you've got
ears to hear, he said, I'm gonna give you more and more and more.
But if you don't, what you seem to have, he said, I'm gonna take
that away with you. I'm just gonna take it away, I'm gonna take
it away. That's where we're at today.
I mean, it's like that then, pretty much like that today.