Let's open to Genesis chapter
22. Chapter 22. I'm going to read
a couple of verses here in 21, starting with verse number 9. It says, And Sarah saw the son
of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham,
Cast out this bondwoman and her son. For the son of this bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing
was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son. And
God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight,
because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman, and all that
Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice. For in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. And remember, Abraham believed
God. And it came to pass, this is
chapter twenty-two, and it came to pass after these things that
God did tempt Abraham. And he said unto him, Abraham,
and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the
wood for a burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place
of which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto the young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son,
and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together. And Isaac said unto Abraham his
father, and said, My father? And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son? God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven
and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he
said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God, saying that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
up by his thorns. by his horns, and Abraham went
and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering instead
of his son. The ram, which God provided as
a substitute for Isaac, was typical of God's own great substitute
for us, Christ. verse fourteen. And Abraham called
the name of the place Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. And it is said to this day in
the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the angel of the
Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and
said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand
which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate
of thy enemies." What a sure and certain promise we have in
our Lord Jesus Christ and in God's eternal purpose which can
never and will never change. In verse 18, it says, And in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because
thou hast obeyed my voice. And that seed is Christ. Let's
pray. Holy Father, in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you, Lord. Thank you that you caused
us to come here. Thank you, Lord, that you give us a place we can
meet and hear the gospel. Thank you for brother Donnie,
cause him to tell us about Christ. Open our hearts to him tonight,
Lord, nothing else. For these few minutes we're here,
forgive us of our sins. Oh, Lord, I have so many. Forgive
me. I pray for your mercy and your grace. I pray for the sick,
Lord, that you'd be with them prepared. And I pray that you'd
give the doctors wisdom with Lily when she goes to see them.
I pray for my children, Lord, and my grandchildren, and my
wife, and her family. Be with us through the rest of
the service, if it be that will, Lord, that will be done. May
you be high and lifted up. In Christ's name I pray, amen. If you will, open your Bibles
with me to 1 Peter, chapter 1. 1 Peter, chapter 1. I started this morning on the
subject, understanding the end. And understanding the end of many
things. We understand the end of the wicked. When David went
to the sanctuary in Psalm 73, he said, I understood then their
end. And then he talked about how that it was useless for him
to even cleanse his hands in innocency. You know, and until
he went into the sanctuary and understood the end. And then
Christ is the end of the law. And how, well I know why people
miss Christ, but with a Bible in their hands, with a Bible
in their hands, people miss Christ. I did. I did. Until God made
him known to me and revealed him to me. And so we dealt with
that. And then the end of the commandment,
you remember we dealt with that charity out of a pure heart of
good conscience and faith unfeigned. And we dealt with that. And now I want us to look here
in 1 Peter chapter 1 and look at the end of our faith, the
end of your faith. He says here in verse 6, 1 Peter
1, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, if it's necessary, you are
in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found under praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having
not seen you love, in whom though now you seem not yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. And here's
why we do this, even though we're tried, receiving the end of your
faith, the purpose of your faith, the goal of your faith, even
the salvation of your souls. Now that there is talking about
when we're plumb saved. That's what he's talking about
right there. That's the end of our faith. That's the end of
our faith. That's the goal of our faith.
That's the purpose of our faith. That one of these days we're
going to reach the end of it. Faith will cease to be. And when
that faith ceases to be, the end of our faith, that will be
the ultimate salvation of our souls to go be with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And oh, I tell you what, and
I look for this blessed time when our faith is over and done
with. There's an end to it, there's
a reason for it, and God gives it to us. And I tell you, a lot
of folks think that you ain't, you know, they're trying to endure
until the end, but here we're talking about faith. Now look
what God said He'll do about our faith in verse 5. He says
here in verse 5, "...who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time."
So, this business of faith is something, it's something you
know that when Peter, excuse me, Paul says you know would
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But
you know what he said right before that? We walk not by sight, but
we walk by faith. And he says, and then, Then he
says, Then, you know, it would be absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord. And that's what he's talking
about right here. And I'll tell you something. Look over here.
You keep this. Hebrews is right over to your right. In Hebrews
chapter 10. Look at this. Verse 36. You see,
we haven't seen Christ but by faith. We do believe in Christ. We trust Christ. We know whom
we have believed. We've committed our souls to
Him, our lives to Him, our very being to Him, our eternal souls
to Him. And we trust Him. One of these
days, we may not know who we are before we leave this world.
But one thing we know, He knows who we are. And that faith that
He put in there is like Abraham. That faith he had, that faith
that he really truly believed. that if he offered his son Isaac
upon that altar that God would raise him from the dead because
God had already made him the promise that in his seed would
all the nations of the earth be blessed. And so Abraham he
knew that if I do this God's got to keep His promise. God's
going to bring an end to this faith, the goal of me offering
my Son. And that goal was that He's going
to resurrect His Son. And He did receive Him again
from the grave as by a figure is what the scripture says. And
so when God makes a promise to us, and God's promised us an
eternal inheritance, reserved in heaven for us that'll never
ever fade away. And He's promised us that those
who trust in Him, that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. So whatever happens in this world,
there's gonna be a day when faith stops. And that's the salvation
of our soul. Look what He said here in Hebrews
10, 36. For ye have need of patience,
that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the
promise. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come, and will not tarry." And just a little
while. Ain't that what he said? Just
a little while. Hebrews 10, 36, 37. And now, listen to what he said.
Just a little while. Just a little while. He that
shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall
live by faith. What he's living, he's gonna
live by faith. And if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure of them. But now listen to what
he says. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but believe to the saving of the soul. We're going to believe until
we can't believe anymore. We're going to believe until
faith ends in sight. And that's what He's talking
about. And we desire, and back over here, there it says in verse
7 of 1 Peter 1, it says, You know that our faith might be
frowned under praise and honor and glory at His appearing. We
desire our faith to honor Him. And I'll tell you something,
I've got to find this, I'll find it and try to get it in a bulletin
in a few weeks. But the thing that honors God
more than anything you can do in this world, in this world
right here, is to believe Him. That's the most God-honoring
thing you can do in this world is to believe God. Now that's right. What more can
you do than to believe Him? We believe God. And faith takes
him at his word, takes him at his promise, takes him through
everything. Faith, trust him in the midnight
hour as well as when the sun is shining its brightest. Faith
believes God in the deepest, darkest trial he'll put you in.
If he puts you in the crucible and he puts your faith in the
fire, and we put that faith in that fire and he turns up that
fire very hot, All He's doing is burning out everything and
all the dross that we all know we have and we want it burned
out of us. And when that fire gets on there, that gold begins
to tremble until it just gets real still. And they scoop off
the dross and there's that faith. And that's what's going to this
faith that God's talking about here is that faith when He puts
it in there, He brings it to us just as How many trials has
He brought us through and brought you through? And He says, to
the glory and honor and purity. When Christ comes, our faith
will honor Him. Our faith is going to take Him
at His word. Our faith, beloved, says it will
be found under praise when Christ comes. He asked a question. He asked the question over in
Luke chapter 17. He says, when the Son of Man cometh, will He
find faith on the earth? Yes. If I'm here, I'm going to
have it. And if you're here, you're going
to have it. He's going to find faith on the earth. He's going
to find, he's never left himself without a witness. And when he
comes again, there'll be people with faith and that's who he's
coming after. People's got faith that believes
him, looking for him. And all this, and I'll tell you
what, and he keeps us by his power. And I tell you what, and
he said, this is a salvation ready to be revealed at verse
5, ready to be revealed in the last time. Oh my, what a day
that's going to be. What a day that's going to be
when I tell you when faith is revealed to be what it is.
And I'll tell you something, and you all know this, that when
God tries our faith, He don't try it for His good. When He
tried Abraham, when He tempted Abraham, God knew exactly what
He was going to do. He knew exactly what He was going
to do. And He knows what He's going
to do with us. But the trying of our faith is for us and those
who watch us. It don't do God any good to try
our faith. He's going to always be the same. But when He tries
our faith, And when he puts his faith that we will receive the
salvation of our souls from, when he tries it, it's to make
us know we've got it. And it's to make other people
that observe us understand that fellow really believes what he
says. Shirley and I was talking about on the way home this afternoon.
It would be an awful thing for us as believers in the free and
sovereign power of God, salvation of the Lord, that God is sovereign
and He orders all of everything for us in this life. I mean,
He decrees everything that happens in our life. And we say everything
happens for our good and to His glory. That's what we say. And we believe that. And then
for us to believe that, and to preach that and say we believe
that and then murmur and complain at any trial or anything that
happens our way, that would absolutely be saying I don't believe really
what he says. So we know we're shut up. Now
this is my, I'm gonna quit preaching and tell you what I think. I
think, I think that a believer Really, truly, when he's learned
the gospel, he actually practices what he preaches and what he
hears. I believe he does. I believe he does. I don't care
how heavy the burden, you know, when you get up some days and
life is so heavy. God ain't went out of business.
Has He? You know why He was heavy that
day? He made it heavy. Tomorrow it may be light, but he's the one that does it.
And we'll receive the end of our faith, the goal of our faith,
the aim and purpose of our faith, salvation of our souls. You'll walk up here one of these
days and I'll be here and you'll say, well, old brother Don has
been with the Lord a lot, you know, Quite a while now, ain't
he? We're just looking at this book,
you know? And they'll say, that's what you'll say. He said, he's
done going to be with the Lord. That's what you'll say. Well,
that's the end of my faith. And I want to be saved. Don't
you want to be saved? Oh soul, I want to be saved. I want to know Christ. I want
to be found in Christ. I want Christ to be mine and
me to be his. And that's what he says, that's
the aim and purpose of faith is to receive the salvation of
our souls. And then you'll say, he's plumb
saved now. Plumb saved. All right. Oh my, let me show you another.
Now turn over to John gospel chapter 13. John's gospel chapter
13. Do you know why we talk about
being saved and wanting to be saved? We want to know Christ
and when Christ will be found in Christ is because we know
how frail we are. We know just how weak we are
and we need saving. We need saving. Look what he
said here now in John chapter 13 verse one. Now before the
feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come,
that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. Now
he knows that this world is fixed to come to an end for him, and
an awful suffering. And then look what it says, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the
end. That makes me feel good. That just blesses my heart. He
loved them unto the end. What does it mean, the end? He'll love them till as long
as He exists. That's what it means. And He'll
love us as long as we exist. So there'll never be an end to
when He stops loving us. He loved them to the end. There's
no end to that love. And oh, having loved His own,
Notice that what he says? Next time somebody tells you
Jesus loves everybody, go over there and read them that verse
of scripture. Having loved his own, who is his own? His sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep which are not of this foal, them also I
must bring. Be one shepherd and one foal.
His elect. He said, no you're not, you've
not chosen me, but I've chosen you. I love you and you're mine. And I tell you what, He loved
them. He's fixing to go to the cross
and then He loved them. Thought of them and the love
to them. And how precious they were to
Him. And I tell you, they were His because He laid down His
life for the sheep. He shed His blood for the sheep.
He bought His sheep with His own blood. They're His sheep
by power. He come, and I preached that
Wednesday night in the day of His power. His power. His people. What have they done? They're made willing to be what?
His sheep. His elect. His, you know, oh,
to be one of those that Christ says, no you're not, you've not
chosen me. We did not choose Him. But He
said, I've chosen you. Mark 3 13 says this he said he
went up into a mountain and you know what the next few words
says He called unto him who he would And he's still doing that he's
still calling unto him who he would and then we're his by gift
now look over here in John 17 We're his by gift John 17 in
verse 6 Oh, we're His by gift. Oh, the
Father. Oh, let the Father giveth me.
They're going to come to me. And look what he says in verse
6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest
me out of the world. Thine they were, and you gave
them to me. And this is amazing. Staying
here, they've kept your word. Didn't say they tried to. They
hoped to. They'd like to. Says they have.
And oh, listen, I tell you what, kept in the world. Ain't that
what it talks about? He kept us in the world. We're
in this world. And we got to be kept. Look what
our Lord said down here in verse 11. He loved, having loved his
own. He said, and now I am no more
in the world. He's praying to the Father now.
I'm no more in the world. But these, these, my own, my
elect, my sheep, they're in the world. And I'm coming back to
you, I'm coming back to the glory you had with you before the world
was. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me, and this is why I want
you to keep them, that they may be one just like you and I are. And listen to this now. And while
I was with them in the world, while I was there with them in
the world, Traveling with them and walking with them and preaching
to them and teaching them. I kept them in thy name Those
thou gave us me have I kept and none of them's lost But the son
of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled having loved
his own what he do he keep them kept him while they're in the
world keeps us while they're in the world and then look what
he says as the father about us in verse 15 I Pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world." Oh, you could. You can take them out of the
world anytime you want to. But I pray not that you take
them out of the world. Don't separate them from the
world. Don't take them and do like the Catholics and go off
and get in monasteries and get in And these become a hermit. He says, no, no, you're in the
world. And He says, I pray not that you should take them out
of the world, but thou should keep them from the evil. They're
in the world. Just keep them from the evil
that's in the world. Now who's He praying for? Praying
for His own. Praying for His elect. Praying
for His sheep. And He loved them unto the very
end. Not everybody, but His own. His
own. Oh, to be his own. I am my beloved's
and my beloved is mine. What a blessed thing it is to
be one of the Lord Jesus Christ's sheep. And let me look at this.
Let me make sure this is right before I tell you to look at
it. I want you to see this. I think this is right. And if
I can find it real quick. Yes. Psalm 100. Look at this
with me for just a moment. Talking about having love of
His own. Look at Psalm 100. This is talking about our Lord
and us being His own and how we came into being. Look what He said in verse 3
of Psalm 100. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us, and
not we ourselves. We are his people, then the sheep
of his pasture. And what he's talking about here
is that he made us his sheep. We didn't make ourselves sheep. And we didn't make ourselves
his people. He says, it is he that hath made
us his sheep, made us his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
And what do we do? We enter into His gates with
thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. And we thank You,
Lord, for saving my soul. Thank You, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank You, Lord. And be thankful unto Him and
bless His name. Oh, having loved His own, which
is in the world, He loved them unto the end. Now, let me show
you another one. Over here in 1 Corinthians chapter
15. First Corinthians 15. Having loved his own. Oh my. You know what this. When parents have a child. And
nowadays, since we got cell phones and all that stuff, I mean, you
just take a picture instantly. Instantly, you know, now you
used to have to get the camera out and just try to, but now
you just take your pictures just like that. And you know, you're not showing
other people's kids when you get your pictures out, you're
going to show them the pictures of yours. And I'll tell you what, if they're
grinning or they're smiling or they're crying or whatever they're
doing, you want everybody to see that picture because it's
yours. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ says,
you're mine. And having loved His own. And
you know what we're going to end up looking like? Just like
Him. We're going to be transformed
into the very image of our Lord Jesus Christ one of these days.
Ain't that something? You know, everybody wants a picture
of their children and our Lord turns around and says, well,
these are mine. These are mine. These are mine. And now look
over here at 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 24. I'll say this and
then I'll back up and start saying a few things about it. Then cometh
the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ, then comes the end. There'll be a
time when the end comes. And let's go back up here in
verse 20. Let's go through this and see how this happens. But
now, is Christ risen from the dead? Our Lord Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead, and He become the first fruits of them
that slept, of them that was in the grave. You know, we always
go out and get the first fruits out of the garden, have our first
mess of anything. Well, they said Christ is the
first fruits of those that's in the grave. When He came back
out of His own power, He's the first fruits. And when the first
fruits come, that means there's going to be a harvest coming
later. You're going to get it all in one of these days, and
He's going to take us all in. And then look what he says, For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of
the dead. For is in Adam all these that
Christ risen for, all these that were given to Christ, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order,
things have to come in an order. God has an order to the things.
Christ is the first fruits. Afterwards, they that are Christ's,
that is coming. Those that are alive and remain,
those when Christ comes, He's going to take those afterwards,
they that are Christ's at His coming. When He comes, He's the
firstfruits and then all of us go. And then look what He says,
Then cometh the end, then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father. when he shall have put
down all rule and authority and power. And that's what's going
to happen. Everything in this world has got to be put under
the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what he talks
about and that's what he says in verse 25. For he must reign. He must reign. How long is he
going to reign? No ifs, ands, or buts here. He
must reign till all enemies are put under his feet. And our Lord
Jesus Christ, He's going to put down every rule, every authority,
every power, everything that's against God, He's going to put
it under His feet. He's going to reign. He must
reign. His reign guarantees our reign. If we suffer with Him, we shall
also reign with Him, is what Paul said. And he said, sit down
here at my right hand till I make the enemies your footstool. And
then look what the last enemy to be destroyed is. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all
things under his feet. And when he saith, all things
are put under his feet, it's obvious to us and manifest that
he is accepted, which did put all things under him. Now who's
the one that's accepted? God is. You know God ain't gonna
be under the foot of Christ. And when all things shall be
subdued unto Him, unto the Father, then shall the Son also subject
Himself unto Him that put all things unto Him, that God may
be all and in all. But I tell you what, He's gonna
reign till every enemy is destroyed. And you know what the last enemy
that's destroyed is? The last enemy. That's what He
says, the last enemy. Verse 26, our last enemy. He'll
be destroyed, and that's death. And I'll tell you what, and it
tells us that over in Revelations. Look in Revelations 20. The last
enemy destroyed is death. And death is an enemy. What an
enemy he is. He's an enemy especially to people
that don't know God, don't know Christ. What an enemy he is to
them. But for us who know Christ, it
is not an enemy for us. Blessed are they which die in
the Lord. Oh listen, blessed are they which
die in the Lord. But look what he said here in
Revelation 20 talking about the last enemy. He must reign. until
everything is put under his feet, until he destroys every enemy
of God, every enemy of his elect, every enemy, everything that
is against God and his Christ. And I saw the dead, small and
great." Now what does that mean? That means people that don't
amount to nothing and people who are powerful people in this
world. That's what it means. Captains
and kings stand before God and the books were opened. And another
book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books." Now
listen to this, according to their works. Now those who die
in the Lord, it don't say that. It don't say their works go before
them to make them acceptable before God. It says their works
shall follow them. But here it says, you know, according
to their works. And listen to this, the sea gave
up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to the works. They're talking about dead people.
We're not dead people, we're living people. We have life in
Christ. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Death will be destroyed. And that's why with this new
heaven and new earth we dwell in, all nothing but righteousness
dwells in it. And then look what John said
here next. He said, but I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and first
earth were passed away and there is no more sea. Let me say something
about that. It says over in, I believe it's,
Nehemiah there, he says, you know that he cast our sins in
Micah, cast our sins behind him into the depth of the sea. Well,
here it says there's no more sea. He put your sins in the
sea and then he does away with the sea. And I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.
Down she comes in this new heaven and new earth, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven. Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men. Now death's been destroyed. Death,
the last enemy, he's dead, he's vanquished, he's in hell. Death
ain't never, ever gonna come into this world again. Death
ain't never gonna be in this universe again. Death will never
touch anybody ever again. He's gone. And he says, behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men. And listen to this, and
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. And
God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes. Now listen to this, there
shall be no more death. Dog, where'd it go? Christ destroyed
it. Huh? No sorrow, no crying, any
more pain, for the former things are passed away. Huh? And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write,
these words are true and faithful. And I tell you, the last enemy
has destroyed. Death will never, down here,
it's inedible. It's inevitable. But in this
new world, after death is absolutely destroyed, it will never ever
exist ever again. Death will never ever exist again.
We'll never feel the pain. We'll never shed another tear.
There'll be no more grief, no more heartaches, no more missing
people. No more saying, boy, I wish I
could hear their voice one more time. There'll be no more of
that. Because death will be as if it
never was. That's going to be something.
Be in a world where death, no more death. Everybody be running
around in the image of Christ, that eternal life, that new body.
Viewing Christ, walking around this new heaven, new earth. going
up to worship God, you know, and the nations will come up
and they'll come up there to that new Jerusalem, come down,
the gates open, and we can go in and out. We can go in and
out. It tells us we go in and out. And we don't need the sun. They got the sun up there. And
they say if that sun moves in any direction, it'll freeze you
to death or burn you up. But there won't even be no sun.
There's not only no death, there won't be no sun. You know why
we don't need no sun? Because the Lamb's the light
thereof. He's so bright and so glorious
in His person that He lights up this new world. All right. Well, let me give
you my last one. Let me give you my last one,
Psalm 39. Psalm 39. Psalm 39. Stan came up to me this morning,
asked me about this, where this chapter was. He was remembering
some verses and I said, this is where it's at. And look what
happens here now. David said, Psalm 39.1, I said, I'll take heed to my ways that
I sin not with my tongue." How many times have we said that
to ourselves? I'm going to keep my mouth shut.
I'm going to learn to keep my mouth shut. Oh, I wish I could
just keep my mouth shut. Oh, I wish I hadn't said that.
And you say, I'm going to take heed to my ways and I'm going
to quit sinning with my tongue. I'm going to keep my mouth shut. And I'll keep my mouth with a
bridle, especially while the wick is before me. And I was
done with silence, and I held my peace, even from things that
I should have said that was good. And my sorrow was stirred in
me, troubled in me, and my heart
was hot within me while I was musing the fire burn. And then I had to say something.
And I spake with my tongue. I finally said something. But
listen to what he said when he finally said something. Lord,
make me to know my end. Make me to know my end. And I'll tell you what I think
this means. Make me know that I'm one of yours. Make me know
that I'm a child of God, and that when I get to the end of
the way, I won't be lost. That's what he's saying. Make
me to know my end. Make my salvation sure to me. Make me to understand. I've popped
off, and I've said things I shouldn't say, and I don't want to sin
with my mouth anymore. So Lord, I've been popping off,
I've been saying things I ought not say, And now, Lord, make
me to know my end. Am I going to be a sinner without
Christ, or am I going to have Christ? And then look what he
says. Make me know the measure of my
days. Make me to know how to measure my days. Make me to measure my days. How
many days do I have? How many days do I have? How many days have you meted
out to me? And oh Lord, let me measure them.
Don't let me waste them. Don't let me use them foolishly. And listen to this. The measure
of my days, what it is. And here's what else I want you
to tell me, teach me. That I may know how frail I am. That's a pretty good request,
ain't it? That's a pretty good request.
Lord, make me to know my end. We started out talking about
the end of our faith, the salvation of our soul. That's what Dave
wants to know. Lord, make me to know my end out here. I've
got an end. I've got my last day. I've got
my last time. I've got my last... And he says,
Lord, make me to know it. And then make me to know the
measure of the days. Measure my days. They're not long, not
long. And what it is, and that I may
know how frail I am. Then look what he says. Behold,
thou hast made my days as an hand breath. You know what a
hand breath is? That's right there is a hand
breath. Four fingers. You made my life a hand breath. And he said, that's what you've
done. And he says, and listen to this, and mine age is as nothing
before thee. You're eternal, I'm a creature
of time. You're omnipotent, and I'm nothing
but weakness and frailty. Oh, listen, mine age is as nothing
before thee. And then he goes on to say, verily
every man Me and everybody just like me at his best state is
altogether vanity. And vanity is just nothing but
air. Air. Nothing. And that's what
he says. And oh Lord make me to know my
end. Make me to know my end. Make me to measure my days. Let
me know how frail I am. And I tell you, it don't take
much to cause you to understand how frail you are. God makes
you know how frail you are like that. And you know it's... Boy, we're frail creatures, ain't
we? In fact, He calls us dust. He remembers our frame that we're
but dust. That's why He said just a little...
wind on it from him, and that's it. All the flowers are just in bloom.
Tulips, we got some of the beautifulest tulips at home you ever looked
at. Oh, they're just beautiful, big old bunches of them all over. Beautiful tulips. Trees in beautiful
bloom. And then they're gone. And he
says, that's why David says, make me to know my end. I'm a
flower. I'm flourishing. I'm beautiful.
I'm strong and got all this glory. And the flower's gone. And you wither
away. I want to know that. I want to
know how frail I am, what my end is, measure my days. And I know who holds my end,
I'm going to tell you this. I know who holds my end. That's the
blessed thing about it, don't we? Don't we? We know who holds
our end for us. Bless his name. Our father, the blessed, blessed
name of Christ our Lord. Thank you for allowing us to
meet again. Oh Lord, I'm always so thankful to be able to meet
with the children of God. Always so grateful for your word.
Lord, it's such a blessing. Your word's such a blessing,
such, so enlightening, so touching, so moving, teaches us, instructs
us, opens our hearts and opens our understanding and moves our
emotions, helps our faith. And I thank
you for these saints of God. God bless them. Oh, Lord, bless
these believers. Bless these saints of God. Strengthen
them, encourage them, and hold them up with your own hand. Father,
direct their paths. Preserve them and protect them. Let us all hide under the shadow
of thy wing, the shadow of the Almighty. Let that be our refuge. Let that be our hiding place.
under the shadow of the wing of the Almighty. Father, keep
your people. Keep your people. Bless them.
Please enable us to keep our minds stayed upon you. Look to
you. Keep looking, keep looking, keep
looking to our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Blessed be your
name. Amen. Amen.