Mindy and I are delighted to
be back with you again. Delighted. It's been a long time.
I'm honored that you've asked me to come and preach to you.
It's a privilege to be here and worship with you. There's still
some old familiar faces here. It's a little strange. There's some
very familiar faces that are not here. And Brother Lindsey
and Brother Don, of course, and Bob and Sally and Merle and just
many I remember well. But I'm delighted to see some
faces I've never seen before. Make some acquaintances that
I didn't know before. Glad to be here. Very glad. I say old faces. We're getting older, aren't we?
It's amazing. Amazing. Many of you ask about my mother.
She'll be 98 years old in August, but she's sitting in the service
right now listening to the gospel preach. I'm thankful for that. Turn with me to 2 Samuel, the
book of 2 Samuel, chapter 23. 2 Samuel 23. David, who wrote this, was an
old man, and he wrote this. These are familiar words to most
of you, I'm sure. These were his dying words, David's
dying words. It begins, these be the last
words of David. If you thought you were dying,
if you were certain that you didn't have very long to live,
what would be your last words? What would you want your last
words to be? These are the last words of David,
and I believe they're the last words of every believer. The last few years of my father's
life, he was 92 or 93 when he passed away. I remember the last
few years of his life, every time I would go over there, I thought it might be the last
time I would see him. So I paid very close attention
to the very last words that he uttered to me when I left. And we may not have that time
to utter last words, to leave with those that we love, leave
things that we would wish to say to them, and he did neither. But I tell you what, we die like
we live, though. We die like we live. If we live
in the faith, we will die in the faith, as they do. I remember
taking my granddaughters, our granddaughters, to see their
great-grandparents when they were real little. And I remember
telling them to be sure and tell, they called my dad Bobo and Mimi,
be sure and tell them that you love them. because it might be
the last time you see them. And we got in the car, and the
youngest one, Sophie, it was silent. It was silent in the
car. And the youngest one, Sophie,
said, why did you say that, Papa? I said, because it might be the
last time you see them. They're getting old, and it just
might be the last time. A little more silent, she said. Well, what day, when do we die? I said, well, I don't know, but
the Lord knows that. But it might be Sunday, the Lord
knows. It was good advice, and I told
them, be sure and tell them you love them. Good advice to all
of us, isn't it? We don't know when the last time
we'll see one another. And we ought to greet one another,
and we ought to say goodbye to one another like it might be
the last time, because it just might be. It just might be. These are David's dying words. And if Christ is your life, you'll
speak of Him. in life and in death. David was
70 years old. Scripture says he was old and
full of years. 70 doesn't seem too old anymore,
does it? But, you know, people lived. He went through many battles
and they aged more rapidly back then. But he sums up his life
in just a few words. And he sums up his salvation,
his hope, in just a few words. And he sums up the hope and the
life of every one of God's people in these few words. I believe
you'll be able to enter into it. Brother John Chapman, I know
you know him, he wisely said one time, he said, you know,
you see the lifespan of someone behind their name, my father,
1926-2019. 1926-2019. John said, that dash,
that's our life. That's how quickly it passes. That we spend our lives is a
tale that is told, Psalm 90, which we ought to read constantly,
speaks of the brevity of this life and how it's just a sleep. You wake up, you go to sleep
at 16, you wake up, you're 76 or something. It really does
go by that fast. David was 70 years old. Look
at verse one. These be the last words of David.
David, the son of Jesse. He's summing up his life here,
and he says, I'm just David. Now David was a king, wasn't
he? David was a great man. David was beloved of our Lord.
David was beloved of God's people. David was a leader of God's people.
When he talks about himself, he just says, I'm just David.
The son of Jesse, not just another man, the son of a man named Jesse. Who was Jesse? Well, he was well-known
by Israel, but not everybody. He was just another man. I had
two grandfathers named Jesse. I'm a son of Jesse. Do you know
who Jesse Freese is? No, you don't. That was my grandfather,
my great-grandfather. Just another man, just another
son of Jesse, or son of Adam. We're all just sons of Adam,
aren't we? Nothing special. David didn't call himself the
king here. Summing up his life, he said,
I'm just David, the son of a man named Jesse, the son of Adam.
But, he said, I'm the man whom God raised up on high. A man whom God raised up, a man
whom God foreknew, a man whom God loved, a man whom God chose,
a man whom God predestinated, a man whom God called, a man
whom God justified, a man whom God in sovereign love and mercy
and grace chose and raised him up, raised him from death unto
life, brought him out of darkness into life. Is that you? Just
another son of Adam whom God quickened by his grace in Christ
Jesus. That sums up our life, doesn't
it? Nothing else matters if you are known by and know the Lord
Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters whether
you're a king or a pauper, does it? Nothing else matters. One
thing is needful. That's what David wrote in Psalm
27. One thing. David's last thoughts and words
were where God found him. What he was and where God found
him. A man whom God raised up on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob. You remember the story of David
when he was chosen to be king of Israel? You remember that
story in 1 Samuel 16? David never got over that. He
was a shepherd boy. He was only 16 or 17, we think.
And he was out there watching his sheep. He was doing his job
faithfully. I believe he knew the Lord at
that time. But he was watching sheep faithfully out there on
that hillside, and up comes a servant. A servant of Samuel, or maybe
one of his servants in the house, Jesse said, and said, Samuel
the prophet is here and he's calling for you. He is? What's Samuel doing here? He's
here to offer a sacrifice, but he's calling for you specifically.
Samuel said to go get you, that we're not gonna sit down until
you come. And David thought, why is he
calling me? So he left his few sheep with
a servant and he went into his father's house and everybody's
standing there waiting on him. And Samuel comes walking up to
David, that 17-year-old boy, and puts his hands on his shoulder
and says, everybody rise, this is the next king of Israel. You reckon he ever got over that?
What do you think was going through his mind? Me? Have you called me? What about your calling? You
see your calling, brethren? I don't know where you were or
what you were. I do know what you were when
the Lord called you. Same as you are now, a sinner.
Do you remember when the Lord first called you by His grace,
by the gospel? Do you remember? Have you ever
gotten over that? Me? He's calling me. I remember distinctly. Some people don't remember a
day, and you don't need to, just as long as you were called. You
have diligence to make your calling and election sure. Mine was right
here in Danville, Kentucky, around 1977 or 1978, something like that.
My dad was preaching a meeting down here before this building
was built. They were meeting in a schoolhouse somewhere. And
I tagged along. The song leader, Ronnie Lewis
and Marty Lewis, you remember them, and their son Terry were
coming down here to the meeting and they asked me if I'd want
to go and they told me we'll stop by, what was the famous
steakhouse here? Steakhouse, anyway, I wanted
to go to the steakhouse. They said, will you go? I said, sure, I'd love to, yeah.
And as we went to the steakhouse before that and came to at the
schoolhouse and my dad was preaching. Now, he was just my dad all those
years. Just my dad. That's my dad. He's
a preacher. I sat and listened for years.
Sat and listened for years. Message after message after message. Well, that night, it wasn't my
dad speaking. It was the Lord speaking to me
through that man. That's how the Lord speaks. He
speaks through me. Please God, by the foolishness
of preaching, And he called me by that gospel that I remember
distinctly. Broke my heart, broke my sin.
And do you remember your calling? Who, me? He called me. The Lord called David. He called
David. He was one of God's elect. And
all of God's people, his redeemed, his called, never get over their
calling. Do you see your calling, brethren?
Not many wise men at the flesh, not many mighty are called. But God, chosen the foolish thing,
the weak thing. Abraham never got over his call.
He was 75 years old, in idolatry, steeped in idolatry. What can
you teach a 75-year-old? Can you teach a 75-year-old a
gospel? Can you change a 75-year-old
their theology? No, you can't, but God must,
and God does. My wife's grandmother was around
75 years old. And the Lord taught her the gospel.
She came to hear Henry Mahan at her son's request. And she
came in there. She was from the first Christian
church, so-called. And she would sit there. Dad
said she would sit there with her arms crossed like this. And
she'd just do like this the whole time. And on the way home, she
said, he just contradicts himself. That's all he does. He says,
come to Christ. And he says, you can't come to Christ. He just
contradicts himself. And she went like this. And then
a few services later, she stopped. That stay had stopped. And then
a little while later, she's doing this. And then a little while
later, he baptized her. Abraham never got over that.
Jacob. What about Jacob? Jacob. Cheat. Surplanter. Cheated
his brother. Cheated his father and all that.
Jacob have I loved. Esau have I. You reckon Jacob
ever got over that? No, he didn't. That's what he
said in Genesis 32. He said, I'm not worthy of the
least of thy mercy, all the mercy, and all the truth that you've
shown me. Oh, the grace. David, Saul of Tarsus, steeped
in religion. Any Saul's of Tarsus in here?
Came out of religion? John Newton, John Newton, one
of my favorite, he was about 80-something when he died. He
said in his last days, he said, my memory is almost gone. He
said, but I remember two things. I remember that I am a great
sinner and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. That's all you need to
know. He said, verse 1, David said,
I'm the man God raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob. The anointed of the God of Jacob.
Now, happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. I know the God of Jacob, don't
you? The electing God, the choosing God, the loving God that loves
his people, keeps them. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. I know this God of Jacob. All that Jacob did and yet all
that God did for him. I know the God of Jacob. Happy
is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. Jacob, remember,
when the Lord came and wrestled with him. Well, David said, I have been
anointed by the God of Jacob and all of God's people have
too. He said in 1 John 2, he said, you have an unction from
the Holy One. He said, the anointing which you have of him abideth
in you. Now what is that anointing? David
is gonna speak of Christ here. David is speaking of Christ.
The anointing is the Holy Spirit taking the things of Christ and
show them to you. Like David wrote in Psalm 133,
he said it's like the precious ointment, this anointing of God,
this salvation of God, the precious ointment that flowed from the
head Now to the beard, Aaron's beard, and to the robe of Aaron,
to the skirts of his garment. And that's what God has done
for all of his people through Christ our head. He's anointed
us and given us this blessed gospel, the oil of gladness that
came down through Christ our head. David said, I've been anointed.
I've been anointed. He called himself the sweet psalmist
of history. He is, isn't he? Don't you love
David? Don't you love the Psalms? All
of God's people love the Psalms because David is a man after
God's own heart. And I find Him to be a man after
my own heart too. He was a sinner saved by grace,
and I can enter into what He wrote in the Psalms. All the
things He went through, all of His own sins and all the trouble
He went through in this life, I can enter into most everything
He said. Can't you? The sweet psalmist
of Israel. David said, the Word of God to
him was sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. How about you?
If it is, you've been called to taste that the Lord is gracious.
The word of God, the words of the prophets, the word of the
preacher are sweet to our taste, aren't they? They were to David.
They were to David. He said in verse two, the spirit
of the Lord spake by me. His word was in my tongue. Spirit
of the Lord spake through David. Spirit of the Lord spake through
the prophets. You know, I believe And I'm sure, like Peter said,
I believe, no, I'm sure that this book is the inspired, written
word of God Almighty. Not the words of men, but the
word of God. You believe that? Like Paul said,
the way they call heresy, so I believe. I believe everything
the prophets have written to be the word of God. Like Peter
wrote, he said, holy men spake as they were moved by the spirit
of God. David's words were God's word. Isaiah's words were God's
word. Do you believe that? I rest my
soul on the words of this book as being, as in truth, the word
of God. Don't you? These are not the
words of man. You can't hang your soul, you
can't hang your life on the words of man. All men are liar, but
let God be true. David said, I esteem all thy
word, all thy precepts to be right, and hate every other way. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that this is God's word, implicitly believing? David rested his soul
on the word of God. And what God spoke through David
and all the prophets was the word of the living God, not the
words of men. Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians,
that they received the word as it is in truth, the words of
God, not men. So David said, the spirit of
the Lord spake by me. His word was in my tongue. His
word was in my tongue. But now, who is David speaking
of here? Who is David speaking of? In
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, if a man's gonna speak by the
Spirit of God, if he's gonna speak about the anointing, who's
he gonna speak of? The anointed means Christ, doesn't
it? That's his very name. So David
is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at it again. Verse
one, David the son of Jesse. Christ is called the son of David.
Son of man, he calls himself the son of man over and over,
doesn't he? All through the scriptures. Why? Because he was made of a
woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law. Tempted and tried and tested in all points like as we are,
yet without sin. That gives me great comfort. God made his beloved son to be
a man. Nobody has thou prepared me,
Christ said. And he came down here, the man
whom God raised up on high. Oh, Jesus Christ came and lived
and died and rose again and ascended. How high did he ascend? To the
right hand of the majesty on high. The man whom God raised
up on high. The sweet psalmist of Israel. Who wrote this psalm, David?
Did David write this song? No, I just told you. It was God
speaking through David. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
whispering in David's ear, write this. David didn't cry, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me in Genesis 22, but the Lord
Jesus Christ told him to write that in inspiration of his coming,
of what he would say and do on the cross. So David is speaking
of Christ under inspiration of the Spirit. The Spirit of the
Lord spake by me. John wrote of Christ. He said,
he hath the Spirit without measure, and the words that he speak are
the words of God himself. He is God, Jesus Christ. His word was in my tongue. Jesus
Christ is the Word of God, made manifest in the blood. The God
of Israel. Look at verse three. The God
of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the God of Israel. He's
the God of Israel. He's the Rock of Ages, cleft
for me. Look it up at the previous chapter. David wrote in verse 1, look
at that. Chapter 22, David spake unto
the Lord the words of this song, and the day the Lord had delivered
him out of the hand of his enemies, out of the hand of Saul, he said,
he begins, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
the God of my rock, in him will I trust, my shield, the horn
of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my savior. Who is
he speaking of? Who is David speaking of? Himself
or another? Another. The Lord Jesus Christ. The rock of ages. And he ends
this psalm that way. He begins it that way. Look at
verse 47 of chapter 22, 2 Samuel 22. The Lord liveth and blessed
be my rock and exalted be the rock, the God of the rock of
my salvation. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know this rock? Are you standing on the rock? Speaking of dying words, you
know, Brother Lindsey was such a faithful man here, a supporter
of the gospel and a song leader for so many years, so many years
with him. And we had a man who, just like
him, Joe Parks was his name, Joseph Park. He was the man the
Lord used to bring us to Rocky Mountain. He was the first man
I came to know and remember and he was such a ardent supporter
of the gospel of us, inspiration to me and us. And he was 62 years
old, and the Lord smote him with cancer. And he died in 30 days. It was the quickest progression
of cancer I'd ever seen. And I went to see him. We were
out of town on vacation. And I came back,
and he was dying. And I walked in the door to see
him, and I'll never forget it. He greeted me, my beloved pastor,
but as I was leaving, here's what he says, the last thing
I remember him saying on earth. He raised him, he was weak. He
kind of raised himself up in that chair, that hospital-inclined
chair, and he hit the arm of the chair and he said, if I go
or if I stay, it doesn't matter. He said, I'm standing on the
rock Christ Jesus. That's the last thing I heard
him say. That's a good place to be. Is that you? Whether you go or
whether you stay. The title of this message is
words to live and die by. Live standing on the rock of
Christ Jesus and die standing on the rock of Christ Jesus.
That's a good place, the only safe place to be. All other ground
is seeking sand. Well, he said in verse three,
it's concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He that ruleth over men
must be just ruling in the fear of God. He that ruleth over men. Our God reigneth. The Lord Jesus
Christ reigneth, doesn't he? Over the armies of heaven, among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? You like that? I love that. Say
unto the heathen, say unto God's people, thy God reigneth. Jesus
Christ said, all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth.
Don't you love that? That nobody has any authority
over anything that Jesus Christ reigns and rules. Well, he that
ruleth over men must be just. Our Lord is just and righteous. When Abraham was pleading for
Sodom, there were some people in Sodom that Abraham knew. One of them was his nephew, Lot,
and his wife, and perhaps their children that Abraham knew and
had a burden for them. And we live in Sodom, don't we?
You have people you burden for? Well, when Abraham pleaded with
the Lord to spare Sodom, the Lord, there wasn't 10 righteous
there, was there? How many righteous were there?
One. Lot. At any rate, when Abraham
was pleading with the Lord to spare them, he finally just concluded
with this, well, shall not the judge of the earth do right?
And he just left it right there, didn't he? He's just. Our God
is just, isn't he? He said, I'm a just God. Look
unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. I'm a just
God and a Savior. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our ruler, our Lord. He's just. He's righteous, isn't
He? Oh, he's just, and we are justified
by him, aren't we? Justified by his blood, made
righteous in him. Of God are we in Jesus Christ,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness. He is our righteousness,
isn't he? Oh, he's just, he's righteous.
Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that your righteousness
is in the Lord Jesus Christ? Aren't you glad? David said,
I was glad. I'm so glad. This is the oil
of gladness he sheds on God's people. That Jesus Christ, their
Lord and Savior, is their righteousness. And he said in verse 4, he shall
be as... Listen to this description of
Jesus Christ. Listen to it. And when did David write that?
Where was it? He was old, but where was he
when he wrote that? Was he on his bed? No. Some things
went by after that. Do you not find when you read
the Psalms that most of them are cries for help and cries
in time of sorrow? David talked about watering his
couch with his tears, didn't he? Constantly he said, my soul
waited for thee, Psalm 130, my soul waited for thee more than
they that watch for the morning. David spent many a sleepless
night over all the troubles he went through, His family and
all that. Was this written after a night
filled with sorrow and weeping? Was it? Perhaps. Many of the
Psalms were written then. Well, look at what he says. It's
like he woke up in the morning and the sun was shining. After
a long night of sorrow. He says, this God of Israel,
this rock of ages, my rock, my just God, my righteousness, He'll
be as the light of the morning. When the sun rises, a morning
without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth
by clear and shining rain." Isn't that a beautiful picture? It's
stormy and all night long and you're sleepless and you're awake
and finally you wake up in the morning and all the clouds are
gone. And the sun's coming up. The
sun has a, naturally speaking, just seems to have a healing
quality in it. Everything seems to be a little
better when the sun comes up, doesn't it? No matter how dark
the night, the sun comes up. Clear, shining, tender grass. Don't you love to smell the grass
that you've just mown and the rain coming down on that grass?
Don't you love it? Right now, isn't this one of the most beautiful
times of the year? Well, this is all a description of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Psalm 72. Psalm 72. David wrote this psalm. Look over there with me. This
is the psalm of the king, and he's not talking about himself,
and he's not talking about Solomon, his son. He's talking about Jesus
Christ. In Psalm 72, look at this. This
is wonderful. You have it? Verse one, give
the king thy judgment, so God has given all judgment unto the
son, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. That's where
it is, it's in him. He shall judge thy people with
righteousness, his, and thy poor with judgment, blessed are the
poor. The mountains shall bring forth,
bring peace to the people, Mount Zion, Mount Calvary, and the
little hills, a hill called Golgotha, by righteousness. of Jesus Christ. He'll judge the poor of the people.
He'll save the children of the needy. He'll break in pieces
the oppressor, Satan, our adversary. They shall fear thee as long
as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. He, Christ,
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass as showers that
water the earth. Read on. In his days shall the
righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon
endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from
the river unto the ends of the earth. Verse 12, he'll deliver
the needy when he crieth, the poor, him that hath no helper,
he'll spare the poor and needy, save the souls of the needy.
He'll redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious
shall their blood be in his sight. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
David says he's like the light. He is, he's the light of the
world. Like the son of righteousness with healing in his wings. Oh,
he's the rain, the blessed rain that came down from God upon
us. The righteousness sprung out
of the earth. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that a beautiful
picture? Alright, now look at this. He
sums up his hope. He sums up his salvation. And just one verse in it. All
his hope, all his salvation, he sums up. And he begins this
way, verse 5. He says, although my house be
not so with God. Although all in my house don't
know my God. Although everyone in my house
doesn't rejoice in the Lord my God, in the rock of my salvation.
Although all is not right, with those in my house." Anyone? David, his life was full of trouble, like the
Lord said would be of man. Man is born of woman's few days
full of trouble, full of trouble. David's life was full of trouble.
He had trouble within, trouble without, like us. He had trouble
in the world, and he had trouble in his house. Anybody? Everybody, all of God's people.
He had trouble within his own heart and soul, with his own
sins, and all the trouble around him vexed with the conversation
of the wicked like a righteous lot. He had troubles that people
caused him, and he had trouble that he caused people. Troubles
with his enemies, troubles with his friends. Troubles in his
family, troubles in his marriage. David was married to an unbeliever,
Michael. She despised his God, she despised
his religion. Anybody in here married to an
unbeliever? That's gotta be one of the most difficult trials
that a believer would go through. David's wife, Michael, he loved,
he did not love his Lord. David had trouble with his children.
Many of his children were lost. Many of his children didn't know
the Lord. Anybody? And he lost several of his children. They literally died before he
did. The infant that he and Bathsheba had died. He stayed awake all
night praying for that child. was not only lost, but Absalom
died in a terrible way. And David grieved greatly for
Absalom. Absalom, Absalom, my son. Anybody? Amnon, the son, died at the hands
of Absalom. Tamar was brutalized by her brother. Trouble, trouble. Anybody got
troubles in your hand? Did he write this after all night
long worrying about one of those children? Did he? Perhaps. Here's what he said, although
it be not so with my hand. Yet, look at this, yet but God,
yet God hath made with me, made concerning me an everlasting
covenant. God hath made concerning me an
everlasting covenant. God hath chosen me, called me
by his grace, brought me to Christ, given me to Christ before the
world began, put me and all that is about me in the hands of my
Lord Jesus Christ. God put me in the hands of my
Redeemer, my covenant head, the second Adam from above, my Redeemer,
my Messiah, the Christ, put me in his hands. And David thought,
I've been in good hands. He put me in His covenant in
Christ and He ordered all things. He said everything about me has
been ordered in all things and sure and certain to come to pass. Like Paul wrote, all things work
together for good. Those who love God are called
according to his purpose. David knew that long before Paul
wrote that, that God put his name in the Lamb's book of life,
gave him to the Lord Jesus Christ, his covenant head. Everything
about him was ordered in all things and for his good and for
his salvation. Even the evil, what he thought
was evil. That's why Moses wrote there in Psalm 91, no evil shall
befall you. It may seem evil, but it's not.
It's for our good. David knew that. He said, although
it be not so in my house, although it seems like I've got nothing
but trouble in my house, yet God hath made with me, concerning
me, this is my hope, this is my peace, this is my comfort
in all my troubles and trials, that God hath made concerning
me an everlasting covenant. that everything about me has
been ordered before I was born, and it is sure, it will surely
come to pass, surely work together for my eternal salvation. He
said, this, he said, this is all my salvation. Is that all
you got to say, David? That's all I got to say. It's
all my salvation. What he's saying is Christ is
all. He's all my hope, all my prayer.
How about you? How about you? Is that what you
said? Like John Newton, and my memory's
about gone, but I remember two things. I'm a great sinner, and Jesus
Christ is my great Savior. Let me tell you some more dying
words. You'll love this. Dear lady in our church, she
was there before I got there, before we got there. Ellen Fralin,
her name. Faithful. The Lord saved her
later on, years. But anyway, the Lord gave her
Alzheimer's. And again, it was one of the
most rapid onsets of that disease or whatever that I've
ever seen. She was gone in just 30 or 60
days, wasn't she? It was quick. But one Sunday
more, she was staying in a, turn to her back with me,
her back at three, and I'll close with you. She was staying in
a home, nursing home, and we went to see her. And I walked in, and her memory
was gone, Mindy and I, and Joe and Nancy Parker. We walked in,
and I said, hello Helen, good to see you. Sunday morning after
service. She said, how are you? She didn't
recognize me. I said, I'm fine. I said, I'm Paul, Paul Mahan,
your pastor. She said, oh, how's he? How is
he? I said, well, he's fine. And I said, Helen? I said, we
just came back from worship. I said, Helen? Now, she didn't
know her children. She didn't know me. She'd know
anything, anybody, or anything. I said, Helen, we just came back
from the worship service, and I preached the gospel this morning.
I said, Helen, what is the gospel? She said, Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Now what else do you need to
know? Nothing, nothing, because Christ is out. Although it be
not so, my head." This is a closing prayer, a song written by Habakkuk,
written by our Lord through Habakkuk. You know these words. Verse 17,
Habakkuk 3, although the fig tree, although we make it not
to grow, David said, although the kingdom seems to be diminishing,
although my house seems to be diminishing, although some people
have gone, although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall
fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, fields
yield no meat, the flock be cut off from the fold, no herd in
the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the
God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hind's
feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places with
him in glory. Now he says to the chief singer,
let's start singing. We got much to sing about. He
wrote that, and that was a song. And so was David's last poem,
a song. Is this your hope? Is Christ
your hope? Is he all your salvation? Is he your rock? Is he your God
of your salvation, your righteousness? In him you stand. I hope so. I believe it is. I look into
the faces of some people that are listening with recognition
and joy. May the Lord bless that for His
glory and your good. Amen.