Turn to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. I will read one verse as a text
for this one. And look at these words on the
page as I read. Let not your heart be troubled. Think about that statement. This
is not a request. This is an imperative. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. These are the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Let not your heart be troubled. And yet I do. So what do I call that when I
let my heart be troubled? Unbelief. Unbelief. Well, that's all I have to say
about that. That's just the way it is. That's just the way it
is. If ever my heart is troubled,
I have no reason for it to be troubled other than unbelief. Let us call it what it is. Because as long as we try to
make it something else, we'll never be able to deal with it
for what it is. This verse is generally preached
as a comfort to believers as to the certainty of our having
a place in heaven. That is, this verse with its
context is there to encourage us not
to let our hearts be troubled because we know we have a place
with God in Christ. And I would not dare argue against
that. I don't want to become sanctimonious to where if everyone
doesn't see something exactly as the way I see it, that I think
somehow they are a little less in the kingdom of God. There
are times when God reveals that to you over and over and over
again. I wouldn't dare argue against
that. These words are there to comfort us as to our certainty
of having a place in heaven. And I use the word heaven, because
that's where Christ said He went back to. This is preached at funerals,
especially this verse, quoted at funerals. It is quoted during
difficult circumstances and great calamities that may fall upon
us. It's preached to encourage the
discouraged. I dare not criticize that. All of these are valid occasions
for comfort. All of them are. In all of these
things, we could say that Christ says to us, let not your heart
be troubled. Ye believe in God, He said, believe
also in Me. I dare not criticize that. They're
all valid occasions for the comfort of believers. We're told to mourn
with those that mourn. And you know what? Whenever you're happy, it's hard
to mourn with those that mourn. When you're rejoicing. And when you're mourning, it's
hard to rejoice with those that rejoice. But you don't understand my situation.
It ain't about understanding your situation. It's about obeying
the truth of God. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, Christ said, believe also in Me. So again I say, all these are
valid occasions for the comfort of believers. Comfort that has
been uttered forth by our Lord Himself, the only begotten of
the Father, who said, let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe
in God, believe also in Me. Do you believe in God? Do you
believe in God? Now when I ask that question,
because I know that when Christ asked the question, He knew what
He was talking about. Whether I know what I'm talking
about is up for grabs sometimes, but He knew what He was talking
about here. Do you believe in God? Do you
believe in the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth? If you do not, you
don't believe in God. You may believe in a God, but
you do not believe in God. Because He is the Sovereign of
Heaven and Earth. That is not debatable. We're
not trying to prove that to men and women, we're declaring it
to men and women. Do you believe in the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? If you do not, you do not believe
in God. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is God over the Hindus, but
he's not the God of the Hindus. He is God over Islam, but he
is not the God of Islam. He is God over the Baptists and
the Methodists and go on down the line. But sadly, he's not
the God of most of the Baptists and the Methodists and on down
the line. He is the God of Abraham and
of Isaac and of Jacob. He is the Father of and the Savior
of true Israel. Just something brief on that. There are those who seem to think
that if you hold to certain things, and it's not just one thing,
but any certain thing, that that means you must believe all this
other stuff that men say. And I know that's kind of an
open statement. You have no idea in particular what I'm talking
about here. But there are those, I'll give
you an example, there are those, if you believe that Jesus Christ
will come back and reign on this earth before it is renewed for
a thousand years, then you must be a dispensationalist. That
ain't so. That ain't so. There are those
who believe that if you believe in what is called the rapture
of the church, But you must also believe this or that. What we
believe is what the book says. And you don't need me to explain
what it means. You just need me to proclaim
and encourage you to bow down to what it says. I don't have
to explain what it means. Even the Ethiopian eunuch did
not need someone to explain what it meant. He needed someone to
tell him who it was. He didn't say to Philip, what
does this mean? He says, does the prophet speak
of himself? Or does he speak of another?
He knew what it was saying. He just didn't know who it was
it was saying it about. And Philip, from that place,
preached unto him Jesus. Now, when I say that God is the
Father and the Savior of true Israel, there are those that
say, oh, I know where He stands. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Because we are not following
any system as ordained by men. We are trying as faithfully as
possible, as enabled by the Spirit of God, to bow down to thus saith
the Lord. That's what it's all about. Do
you believe in that God? Even throughout the Old Testament,
God never told every Israelite, you're one of mine. As a matter
of fact, he told Isaiah, most of them are not. And speaking of a specific period
of time, he said only a tenth will return. Isn't that what
he said? Only a tenth. At other times,
there were other percentages, if you will, given. Therefore,
we cannot call it one percentage. You know, a certain percentage,
Mason, but it's always only been a percentage. And those who teach that there
is such a separation between true Israel and the church are
following a man-made system, not the truth of God. We, as
Gentile believers, are wild olive branches and we are grafted in
to the root stock of true Israel. And that's what it's all about.
Do you believe in God? That's just the way it is. Christ
said, believe also in Me. This truth, let not your heart
be troubled, is valid in all circumstances. And when he said,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He's not saying if you have faith in God, then you ought
to put faith in me as well. That's not really the meaning
because what it goes on to tell them is these words. Look at
verse 8 and 9. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. That'd be enough. Right? Lord, Jesus, if you just show
us the Father, Philip is saying, I don't think he really knew
what he was saying, but he said it'd be enough. I wouldn't need
anything else, Lord. But then look at what Jesus,
Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet
hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. How sayest thou then, show us
the Father? Huh? He's saying, Philip, you've
already seen Him. Here He is. Isn't that what He
says? That's what He said. So we're
not talking about, let not your heart be troubled. If you've
got faith in God, then find some faith in Jesus too. That's not
the meaning that He's talking about here. He's saying, you
believe in God, you'll believe Me. If you believe in Me, You
believe God. It matters where it's at. And Philip did, even though he
didn't understand it. And even though Joe, he believed
imperfectly, he still believed. He still believed. So again,
I say that this is valid for all circumstances. For Christ
is that God. He is the God, the Sovereign
of Heaven and Earth. He even spoke it all into existence.
All that we can see and even things we can't see. Unless we
have gigantic telescopes and even then we know there are certain
things we can't see because there are things we see now that we
couldn't see 20 years ago or so. Jesus Christ created it all. And according to Paul Colossians,
He holds it all in His Sovereign hand. And He is the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Because did not He say Himself
before Abraham was? He didn't say I was. He said
He called Himself by that very name that God said is my name.
He said before Abraham was, I am. And He is. He is the Savior of
true Israel. But even more than that, We talk
about heaven. Heaven is to be with Christ.
That's heaven. Look at what he says. It's in
verse 3. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. Isn't this the glory? He's not just going to, okay,
you've got to find a way to get there. I'm going to come get
you. Isn't that what he says? I will come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. That's
heaven. That's heaven. Even as we read, and I'm not
going to take time to read it, but go back to Revelation chapter
21 and chapter 22 for that matter, but especially chapter 21, and
you see John writing of a new heavens and a new earth. And
he sees this new earth and a holy city, Jerusalem, ascending down
from God out of heaven. I believe that means exactly
what it says. I've got no reason to spiritualize it. It's going
to be spiritual. Believe those words. But it's
going to be real nonetheless. But what, or rather who, is the
light of that new creation and that new city? The Lamb is the
light thereof. And there will be no need of
the sun and the moon. Why? Because heaven is to have
Him come and get you. Receive you unto Himself. That
where He is, there you can be too. Mason, that will be heaven. And I don't know much about it.
When I think of it in light of the phrase eternal, my mind wants
to shut down. Because I can't even comprehend
it. I get tired of things here, doing
things here, even things I like. Right? I mean, even things you
love to do, and after a while you get tired of them and say,
today I don't want to do that no more. But we will be with
Him eternally. And we'll always like it. Why? Because all the trouble,
look at it. Chapter 21 and 22 of Revelation. All of the pains
of this world will be gone. So to be with Christ, that is
heaven. And while we do not recognize
it now, He is with us and we are with Him even now. And in
that sense, it is heaven. It could be a lot worse. And I say this with all the compassion
I can muster. And it's probably not much. But
most of us ain't seen nothing yet. Because what have we seen? physical maladies, and death. And that's it. How many of us are really suffering
and having our blood shed for the cause of Christ? I never
have. I never have. But do not misunderstand
me. No matter what your circumstance
is, no matter how trivial it may seem in light of another's,
that's really not the point. Because your trouble is your
trouble. God ordained it for you to be trouble, therefore
it's going to be trouble. He said in this world you have
tribulation. It may vary as to kind and intensity, but it's
still going to be trouble nonetheless. So again I say, I don't want
to be sanctimonious here. That's not my intent. To be with Christ then, as he
is referring here in this content, I'm going away. I'll come again. I'll receive you unto myself.
Where I am there you may be also. To be with him then is to have
had Christ prepare a place for us now. Isn't that what he says? In my Father's house are many
mansions. Why are there many? Because there's
many that fell in Adam. And there's many that will be
made righteous in Christ. That's why there's many. In my Father's house are many
mansions. Not will be. He's not going to
prepare mansions. He said in my Father's house
are many mansions. They've been there from before
the foundation of the world. the works were finished from
the foundation of the world. If it were not so I would have
told you I go to prepare a place for you. And for years that totally
perplexed my mind. Why does it need to go prepare
a place that's already there? Because I wasn't seeing it correctly. Look, I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will. This is our Lord Jesus Christ
swearing on it. I will come again and receive
you. How? Unto myself. Paul says concerning
that great day, when the saints who have died already, they sleep
in Christ. And they're raised first. You
want to see the doctrine of the resurrection of the saved, go
to 1 Thessalonians 4-5. You'll see the doctrine of it.
And those who have died in Christ shall be raised first. Those
who are still living at that time will be instantaneously
changed. We read that in 1 Corinthians
15. And then both of us will go up
together to be where? It's not really a where. He says,
and so shall we ever be, what? With the Lord. Why does it not say anything
about the resurrection of the lost? Because they ain't got
no part in it. Everything I preach for God's
people is particular and definite. It's not general for anybody.
Or I should say general for everybody. Even the resurrection of the
dead. John said that'll happen at least, at least a thousand
years later. Now that's what it says. You
want to criticize me for preaching what it says, you go ahead. I hear even preachers
make little jibe remarks about something. They may even be right,
but they never explain where they really stand. They just
like to mock what somebody else believes. What value is that? Come on, what value is that to
your soul? What that does is make them feel
pretty tough. That's not what it's about, folks.
As Clay Curtis preached, and to me it was an excellent message,
it's gotta be, he didn't say this, but he said it before,
it's gotta be something with shoe leather on it. Something
you can walk around in. I know doctrine. And if somebody
wanted to argue with them, I am well armed. I don't say that
proudly, but I'm sure there's pride there. But I'm well armed. I know doctrine. And I can argue
about it. But you know what? That ain't
what it's about. Is it? Knowledge puffs up. Charity does what? It seeks to
edify, to build up people, not to tear them down. There was a rabbit track. To be with Christ then is to
have had Christ prepare a place for us now. And then when I go
to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I'll come again, that
lets me know that when he comes again, Joe, everything that's
gotta be done will be done. Whatever it is, right? Right? He's not gonna come back and
we're gonna go back to a partially prepared place. You see what
I'm saying? It's going to be done. But let
me give you a couple things concerning this. The many mansions, that
simply means abiding residences. The many mansions are for the
many. That's why He calls them many. And I mentioned the verse,
but let me read it. Romans chapter 5, and it says,
For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. And you
and I have nothing we can do about that. When Adam sinned,
we were made sinners. That was the command of God Almighty
and the command of judgment from God Almighty. And that's just
the way it is. But look so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous That's a fact And God doesn't leave it up to
up to us. It's by the obedience of what one man Many shall be
made righteous. So that's why we got many mansions,
right? many abiding places And this is my take on it. I
believe the many equals exactly the other many. There's not going
to be one room less, or one abiding residence less, or one abiding
residence over. It is exact. I don't know that number, but
we know this. It's a number which no man can
number. That's what Revelation chapter 5 teaches. Also, the
second thing, and I got three things to give you quickly under
that. The many mansions, that is these abiding residences,
are prepared by Christ. I go to prepare a place for you.
Do I believe he meant what he said? Yes, I do. And if I go,
and he did, he hadn't went yet. This lets you know, this wasn't
that Christ said, well, hopefully I'll get to go. This is an if
of cause and effect. When I've accomplished the work
that the Father sent me to do, I'm going back. That's what he's
talking about. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. That's His promise to me. That's
His promise to you. If you believe in God. If you
believe in God. Think of it this way. Here's
the three things there. The many mansions, that is the abiding
residences, are prepared by Christ. He said, so I go to prepare a
place for you. First, let's look at what it's
not. It's not an abiding residence of some cubical nature that's
prepared by physical construction. The place, if you will, the abiding
residences have always been there. In my Father's house are many
mansions. Do you see it? You read some of the commentaries
and boy, it's like having a room and he's going back to furnish
it. No! That's stupid talk! It ain't
about whether I'm going to have me a bed and a chair in glory
land. It's not an abiding residence
of some cubical nature prepared by physical construction, but
it is an abiding residence prepared by Christ in representative union
to his people. I'm going back now, look, and
if I go, or wait a minute, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare
a place, then I'll come again. So turn to Ephesians chapter
2 and we'll see him preparing this place for us Ephesians chapter 2 And look at what it says and
you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins where
in time past you walked according to the course of this world according
to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience among whom also we all had our
conversation in time past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by the
nature of the children of wrath, even as others were just like
everybody else by nature. There was nothing in God that
would cause God to want to show us mercy. But look, but God who
is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together, not by
Christ, but how? With Christ. When He was quickened,
when He came alive, when He came out of that tomb, everyone that
was chosen in Him before the foundation of the world came
out of that tomb with Him. And that's why he says, and I
remember Earl saying it, it was like he couldn't stand it any
longer. He had to put in there real quick, by grace are you
saved. Because he represented me even
then. Even not after I was quickened
by regeneration, but even before I was quickened, I was raised
with him. Now look, not only that, and
hath raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies,
that is heavenly places as in the KJV, and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He's prepared the place
because He's there. And it's that simple. He's not
up there working to get a place ready. He's there, therefore
we have to be there one day with Him. And how do I know that?
Of course, go back and read Hebrews chapter 6. He is there and only
there, called the forerunner. And what's a forerunner do? He's
the one that gets there first and says, the rest are coming.
My being here guarantees it. So His sitting at the right hand
of God the Father, He was preparing my place. He's preparing your
place. The fact that He sits there is
your guarantee. It's my guarantee. People, religious people, and
even our minds religiously, we read this and we think Christ
is up there building some little place for us to live in. Have
you ever thought that when you read this? Did your minds think?
I wonder what he's doing. He's sitting there for me in
representative union. I'm there and you're there in
him. And he said, but that ain't going
to be all of it. I'm going to come back and actually
get you and take you to where I'm at. Isn't that what he says? So it's an abiding residence
prepared by forerunning. Hebrews 6 verses 16 through 20,
go look at it. He who's for us entered, the
forerunner. He is there physically, every
forerunner. I looked that up in the dictionary,
I couldn't find it, so I'm coining the word. I don't know if forerunner
is actually a word, but it's still true. He's the forerunner,
there are those who are coming after. He is there physically. Is He not there physically? In
Him dwelleth, Paul said. I preached on it a couple Sundays.
Not used to dwell. In Him even now dwelleth the
fullness of the Godhead. How? Bodily. He is a man now seated at the
right hand of God the Father. He is God Almighty. He is there physically. Every
forerunner shall be there with Him physically. We are there now in representative
union. We are there now since the four
runners, already four of us entered. But bless God, one day, Mason,
we will actually be with Him. It's been some odd 2,000 years
ago and preachers like me have been declaring this promise for
2,000 years and it hasn't happened yet. But bless God, one day it
will. I don't know how much longer
it may be. But it will happen. Just like His first advent was
promised for years and years and years. And I'm sure the mind
in our corruption says, but when's He going to come? He did. And
He will come again. Why? Because He promised to. No one gets themselves there. You say, but that's not even
good English. But you know that's what people preach. You need
to get saved. You hear it all the time. You
need to get saved. Like saves out there and you go out there
and spend a couple dollars on it and stick it in your pocket.
That's almost what they believe. You need to get saved. The Bible
never speaks that way. You know why? Because you can't
get saved. You have to be saved. Because
look at what He says. Let me find my spot here. Verse
4, And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith
unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know
the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but And then look at that next word in the English, BY. Not even through. We might say
certainly we come through Him. That's not invalid doctrine,
but that's not even what He's talking about. No man cometh
unto the Father. How? But by Me. You have to be saved, you can't
get saved. There ain't nothing you can do
to get saved. You have to be saved, then you start doing some
things. Yeah, then you start doing some
things. No one gets themselves there. Christ assures their coming. But there's even more here. The
comfort of these gracious words goes beyond the believer's trepidation
of death. I think about death. And sometimes,
and I'm just being honest with you, right or wrong, I think
about it scares me. The process of dying. I don't
like to sit and think about that. If you do, either one, well,
I don't think the first one is even really valid, but I'll let
you have that possibility. You know what it is? Because
you're living in la-la land. Death is real. And for some of
us, death will be a horror. The experience of dying, that's
what I'm talking about, will be a horror. But its fangs are
gone. His fangs are gone. Christ said,
Because I live, ye shall live also, and whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? I can't
understand it, but do I believe it? Yes, I believe Him. So I say, the comfort of these
gracious words goes beyond the believer's trepidation of death.
It goes beyond our comfort in trying circumstances of all in
any general nature. They certainly are valid for
that. As I said, I don't want to sound like, oh, you really
don't get it. No. Every one of us, when you
have trying circumstances, they're going to bring you down to the
dust. That's what they're meant to do. If it wasn't for our good, it
would not happen. And I say this because all of
us know, whether we show it outward or not, when it brings you to
tears and you don't even know whether you can function, that's
what God ordained for you. Because it's to bring you to
the end of yourself. Over and over and over. If we were really spiritual,
then we wouldn't even have to have the lesson taught to us
the first time, would we? But we are so corrupt still yet.
So faulty still yet. So sinful still yet. We have
to be constantly reminded over and over and over, you're nothing
but a bedpan. You're a clay pot that somebody
sticks under their bed at night. That's what you are. There's
nothing in here for me to hope in. There's nothing in here for
you to hope in. And there's nothing in you to
hope in yourselves and nothing in you for me to hope in. But again I say it's even more
than just these trying circumstances. These are gracious words of comfort
and instruction even in light of our absolute, utter failure. Now look at the context. Verse
38 of the preceding chapter. Jesus answered him wilt thou
lay down thy life for my sake now. Let's just stop a minute
Peter done bragged Lord. I'll die for you And it was a statement mixed
with his pride, but Peter was devoted to Jesus Christ And he
proved it when Christ said here's a couple swords, or they say
here's a couple swords He said that'll be enough Peter took
up one of those swords in face of an angry mob He meant what
he said, Mason. But God didn't mean to let it
carry out that way. God's going to remind Peter what
he really is in himself. Who gave Peter the fortitude
to have that little old blade in front of that big mob? Huh? God did. God did. But that's not the way God ordained
for us to conquer the world. Because by some sword, God's
people will be conquered by the truth of his word. But look,
Jesus answered and said, wilt thou lay down thy life for my
sake? Peter meant exactly what he said. But Peter didn't know
the depth of the situation. He didn't comprehend it. Look,
truly, truly I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till
thou hast denied me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled. Clay Curtis said something that
got me to thinking about this passage. And he mentioned, just
in passing reference to Peter here, this whole incident. And
he said Peter didn't just make a mis-slip about a doctor. He
didn't just misstate something. He denied the Lord. Denied that
he knew Him. Even on the last one, the third
time, and we're told it was like from a little TV girl. He cursed and swore, I don't
know the so and so. Whatever the words were, it was
evidently making something pretty rough. This was serious failure. It
was real. And yet Christ tells him even
before it happens, let not your heart be troubled. Do you trust God, Peter? Trust
me. Now here's the thing you don't
get from John, because John didn't record it for us. This is why
you've got to study to show you're self-approved. Don't just read.
You go over and you look at what Luke recorded concerning this
incident. Christ said, now listen, Peter,
you will deny me three times, but I have prayed for you that
your faith fail not. And then we can say, Christ,
let not your heart be troubled. You trust in God, Peter, trust
me. I've done taken care of this for you. You see that? What? You're giving me license
to sin. I don't have to give you license
to sin. Christ said to Peter, Satan desired
you to sift his wheat. God gave him the license to do
it. Right? God gave Satan the license
to do it. And Peter was going to fall utterly
three times. Not two. Not four. But three. But Christ said, I pray for you.
And even when Peter was saying, I don't know the so-and-so, in
here, he knew who he was. Why? Why? Because Peter was so
austere and strong. No! Look at him. He's cussing
and swearing in front of a little kid. A little kid. No, here's why He's still new
in here. Because Christ said, Peter, I
have prayed for you that your faith fail not. Now, I've gone
to prepare a place for you. How am I going to be sure I'm
going to get there? It's got to be up to Him. But what if I utterly fail? No,
it ain't it. You will. Now, how many times? That's in
God's hands. But God says, though the righteous
fall seven times, he shall not be utterly cast down. And he
said, if your brother sins against you, he comes and asks you, or
says, I repent. You forgive him 70 times 7. I
think it may even save him one day, don't it? In other words,
what's this all about? But sin, but sin's the problem. No sin's dealt with. These are gracious words of comfort
and instruction even in light of our utter failures. I don't
know which is best to be told beforehand or not. I don't know. But you know what? It don't matter
because when you utterly fail, when you fall flat on your face,
it ain't gonna matter whether you knew it was coming or not.
The dust as far as you could go, and once you're there groveling
around in it, it doesn't matter whether you were warned about
it before or not, Basin. But I'm here to warn each and
every one of us, live long enough in this world, you will fall
flat on your face. In some way, you will deny the Lord. You will
utterly fail. But let not your heart be troubled. Do you believe God? They believe
Christ because He's right now, seated at the right hand of God
the Father, making intercession for you and me. He's praying
that same prayer for us. I've prayed for you that your
faith fail not. Oh, what a gracious God we see
in Christ. Go back and read it sometime,
the 103rd Psalm, and specifically verses 1-14. God hath not dealt
with us according to our sins. No he hasn't. He knows our frame
and he knows we are what? Dust. So what's it keep reminding
us that we are? Dust. That's why he lets you
fall so you can have a taste again of what you really are.
Dust. But he knows that. And He is
actively praying for us. Intercession now is not Jesus
any more than it was then. It's not Jesus saying to the
Father, now come on Father, don't be too angry with Him. No. He's
interceding for us. Not for God. He's praying for us. And here's
the main thing. Here was the main thing. Go read
it. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All of them. I've prayed for
you that your faith fail not. Your works, they're going to
come short. Your actions, they won't cut the mustard. But oh, what encouraging instruction
even before we utterly fail. Believe Him. You trust God? Trust Him. He's there now to
prepare a place for us. He said, I'll come again and
get you. Will He? If He's there preparing a place
for you, Now if you think He is and He's not, it's going to
be a rude awakening one day. But if He went away to prepare
a place for you, bless God, He promised, I'm coming again to
get you. And I'm going to receive you. Receive you! Receive you! That where I am,
there you may be also. Oh, what comfort to know, even
when we're informed that we cannot but fail. Peter could not avoid
what was going to happen. He couldn't avoid it. He couldn't
avoid it. It was ordained of God. Somebody
says, you ought not preach like that. That's the truth. That's
the problem with so-called Christianity today. They don't want to preach
the truth. They don't want to tell us what we really are even
after God saves us. We're sinners. And you're going
to utterly, miserably fall flat on your face in the dust. But
if you're His today, bless God you're His when you fall. And
He's prayed for you that this one thing at least shall not
happen. Your faith won't fail. Your faith won't fail. You may
have to cry out with the one man, Lord I believe, help thou
my unbelief. But I'm going to tell you something,
I know I believe. Now if I'm deceived about all of that, then
that's something that's nothing you can deal with. But I know
I believe. But also it is, I know I'm filled with unbelief. That's right. Think of it. This wasn't even a promise, Peter,
I'm going to forgive you. I will say this, and I know it
can be misconstrued, misunderstood. What is forgiveness but words
on the page of the Bible? God said He's forgiven us of
our sins. Is that not right? We have to take Him at His Word
because I've got no empirical proof whatsoever that that even
exists other than His promised Word. But faith is real to me. Faith is something that I actually
have and can experience. Right? It's real! I believe. I believe. That's why I didn't... Peter,
but I'm going to forgive you. Of course He forgave him! But
that's not the point. The point is, Peter, I prayed
for you that your faith fell not. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God. Believe also in me. Now let me
wind it up. those who truly believe today.
And this is all I can say about it. I can't take you aside personally
and say let me watch you for two or three days and I'll tell
you whether you really got it or not. I'm here to tell you I'm probably
going to think you don't if you really want me to do that. Because
I know I've lived with myself all these years and I doubt myself
a whole lot. I know I'm going to doubt you.
Because I'm more persuaded about me than I know anything about
you. So you understand what I'm getting at here. But here's what
I can say. Those who truly believe today
will still believe tomorrow no matter what transpires tonight. You hear what I said? Those who
believe today will still believe tomorrow no matter what transpires
tonight. As a matter of fact, you'll still
believe tonight. even though you may find yourself
believing in here, and scared to death to profess it out there,
groveling in the dust at your utter failure. You see, if you
truly believe, you can't stop believing. Because it ain't up
to you. It's up to Christ. And everybody
that He gives faith to, He went back to prepare a place for them
and he said, I'm coming again to receive them unto myself that
where I am, there you may be also. There's the context of
all this. Christ assures it. If the Lord
be for us, who can be against us? Right? And he goes on to
say, what can be against us? Somebody says your sin can. Don't
read this again. If you're still thinking your
sin is the problem, you don't know the Christ of God. That's
the first thing He dealt with. On the tree, He dealt with our
sins there. Now He's praying for us. That
this one main thing, this one main thing, a lot of other things
may come, may go, but Mason, this one thing He's praying for
all of us, that our faith fail not. That's just the way it is. I say to every believer, I don't
care what happens to you this evening. Now you understand where
I'm coming from now. I don't care what happens to
you this evening. I don't care how much you may
or may not. I don't know. But I don't care
if you utterly fail God this evening. If you're His right
now, you are His when you fall. And He is interceding for you. And your faith won't fail. If
it does, it didn't come from Him. That's about all I can say about
that. Because again I say, when Christ prayed that faith fell
not, it ain't going to. He knows what He ought to pray
for, Paul. Because He is God. And let me tell you, people still,
even Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians, even denominations
that at one time at least had the grounds of the truth, Mason,
are now still believing that old lie that somehow Jesus is
trying to convince the Father that it's okay. And we're doing
our best to kind of work things out. No, Peter failed for this
one reason. And it's one reason to remind
Peter of what he really was by nature. and what it was going
to take to get Him to glory. That's Jesus Christ. And that's
the two teachings of Scripture that every believer is taught.
God's going to teach you what you are, and He's going to continue
to teach you what you are, and He's going to continually teach
you who Jesus Christ is, and what He's done, and what He's
doing. You could sum up the whole book of God in them two things.
That's two things you're going to know as a believer. God's
going to show you what you are. and keep reminding you of it,
and He will show you who Christ is, and keep reminding you of
that as well. And that's actually one thing.
Because you don't get one without the other. If you only had one,
if God showed us, David right, how corrupt we were, and then
just left us in that, but took us on the glory, I'd make for
a hell on this earth. Would it not? For God to show
you how corrupt you are, but not to give you any hope in Christ,
even while you live here? That'd be a miserable life. We'd
probably all be killing ourselves. No, wouldn't we? Every time, Joe, that he puts
your face down in the dirt by your failures, it causes your
heart to cry out. Even if you can't with fists,
it causes your heart to cry out, Christ is my all. Christ is everything
to me. And remember that when you're
flat on your face. that He said, let not your heart
be troubled. Father, teach us these words. And we
know, Lord, that's a dangerous request because we
know how we have to be taught those words. But yet, may it
be so for us, Lord. Thank You for Your Son and all
that He has done and is doing and shall do for us. In Christ
we pray, Amen.