All right, back in John's Gospel,
chapter 1. I love the quote by Scott Richardson
that heads your bulletin. He said, preaching is getting
a message from God's heart to my heart and delivering it to
your heart. Everything else is just filling
up time. That's exactly right. And I pray,
and I believe, that God's given me such a message. It spoke to
my heart, and I pray that He will use it to comfort and speak
to your heart as well. That's the issue that our Lord
deals with here, isn't it? Heart trouble. Heart trouble. A couple weeks ago, when we gathered
here, my message on that occasion was from from Philippians chapter
2, consolation in Christ. And I pointed out that Paul was
speaking from his own personal experience of that consolation. He was no armchair theologian. There's a lot of them around.
There's a lot of them around. I've met some. It's never been
a pleasant experience. Fellas who simply sat around
discussing fine points of theology, matching wits with one another,
but not getting down to where we live. Put it down here on
the bottom shelf where I can get it. Where I can get it. Don't be so lofty. I'm not up there. I'm down here. I'm down here. Paul was down
here. And he spoke by his own personal
experience when he said, there is consolation, there's comfort
in Christ. I've experienced it. He told
those he wrote to, you experience it. Now you pass it on to other
of God's suffering children. But as I said on that occasion,
it bears repeating, I think. What Paul said concerning himself,
the sweet consolation and comfort that God gave him in all of his
difficulties and all of his trials, that he had learned in whatever
state he was in to be content with that, Paul had to learn
that. The great apostle had to learn
that just like everyone else. But what was true of Paul is
true of every child of God. Every child. I just don't mean
the little flock here at Fairmont Grace Church. Every child of
God. Every believer. Every sinner
that for whom Christ died and who in time are called out of
darkness into His marvelous light. Every sinner can be a witness,
can bear witness to this. There is great consolation. I've experienced it. There is
sweet comfort in serving the Son of God. Ask that multitude
before the throne, did He ever let you down? Did He ever fail
you? Did His grace ever prove insufficient
for you? Was there ever a time in all
your difficulties, in all your tribulations, in all your sorrow,
was there ever a time He left you alone and said, fend for
yourself? No. Because if it was, if there
was, there wouldn't be a multitude before the throne. We'd have
thrown in the towel. I would and you would, except for the
grace that the good and faithful shall Look in chapter 16, if
you will, just for a few moments, and we'll come back. Just turn
the page over to chapter 16. Look at verse 13. Again, I read
these verses a few weeks ago to you. But our Lord continuing
His same discourse on His way to the garden where Judas would
come and He would be betrayed. He says at verse 13, how be it
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into
all truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. He will glorify me. He shall
glorify me. For he shall receive of mine,
and shall show it unto you." Christ is our comfort. Christ
is our consolation. What does the Holy Spirit do?
He reveals Christ to us afresh, over and over again. All things
that the Father have are mine, therefore said I, that he shall
take of mine and shall show it unto you. Yes, as our Lord taught
here, the Holy Spirit is the comforter, but Christ is the
comforter. I'm repeating myself. It bears
repeating. The Holy Spirit is the physician,
oh, but Christ is the medicine. He's the medicine that the Holy
Spirit applies to our heart. Christ himself gives us the antidote
for a troubled heart. Believe what I'm telling you.
The Holy Spirit consoles, but Jesus Christ himself is the consolation. All of Zion's pilgrims, no exception. All of the pilgrims on the way
to that heavenly city must pass through trouble. Our Lord promised
that. We usually don't think of that
as a promise. Oh, but he promised that we,
through much tribulation, must enter into the kingdom of God.
In the world you shall have tribulation and we all must pass through
those waters of trouble, those storms, those rivers of pain,
those fires of adversity. I know too that since we thought
of that, considered that, I tried to preach from that a few weeks
ago. Tell me, has there been a ceasefire
in that battle? Has the world or the devil or
your own flesh waved a flag of surrender? Has there been a truce
declared in that battle? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. It still rages. We still engage in that spiritual
conflict. We still must fight the good
fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life. Being a believer,
a follower of the Lamb is not easy. Now this so-called Christianity
that says that it is, that's contrary to the Word of God.
It's tough. As a matter of fact, it's impossible
except for the grace of the Son of God Himself bestowed upon
every child of God. With every believer, or rather
Paul can say, with every other true believer, not as though
I had already attained Either we're already perfect, but I
follow after. I press forward. I, like a runner
in the race, throw down everything that might hinder me, that I
might reach that finish line where Jesus Christ, the prize,
the high calling of our profession awaits. I press toward the mark
with the prize of the high calling of God that's in Christ Jesus. And no believer gets a pass on
that. No get-out-of-jail-free cards. But they have this promise that
comes with every trial, every heartache, and every burden. Jesus Christ gave it to his disciples
who were so troubled, so confused, so perplexed So wondering, what
does he mean? Leaving us? Is he not going to
set up an earthly kingdom? That's what they looked for until
after he resurrected. They kept looking for that. Is
he not going to set up an earthly kingdom? Is he not going to bring
us out from under the yoke of Roman power? Isn't that what
he was going to do? And now he's telling us he's
going away? And we can't go with him? Can
you imagine how perplexed they were? And here's his antidote
for their troubled heart. Believe me. Believe me. Believe what I'm telling you.
I'm not telling you a fairy tale. I'm not telling you things that
aren't sure and certain. I know what I'm talking about.
Listen to me, he said. You believe God? Believe me,
too. I'm telling you what I know.
I've been to the Father's house. I know how many mansions are
there. I'm preparing them for you. And there won't be any empty. Because if I go and prepare that
place for you, I'm coming again and take you back to the Father's
house to be with me forever. Believe that. Believe that. Yes, there are no passes in this
battle. But the great shepherd of the
sheep spoke 700 years before he spoke these words in John's
gospel. He said this in Isaiah 43, but
now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob. That's
him. That's him. That's the same one.
And he that formed thee, O Israel. But now, now, oh, I would that
I could get a firmer grip on that, and that it would grip
my heart. Now, Larry, believe me, now he
says, now says the Lord. It's always now. He's always
a very present help in time of trouble. He never abandons ship
on any stormy sea. He never leaves me out on my
own. He's always the captain of my
salvation. He always walks in the forefront
of the battle. He always takes the most fierce
part of the battle. He's always watching over me.
There's never a time that he's not watching over me, whether
I feel it or know it or appreciate it or not. There's never a time
that I'm not in the hand of the great shepherd of the sheep.
Believe that, Larry. Believe that. But now, saith
the Lord, always there, always faithful, always trustworthy,
always watching, because he that keepeth Israel shall neither
slumber nor sleep." Bobby, I sent that verse to her the other night. He'll neither slumber nor sleep. The psalmist said, why do you
say of late? Why do you? refused to lay down
and rest. It's just pointless. Some old believer read that. He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep. And he said, well, if God Almighty,
if Christ, my great shepherd, is watching over me, I don't
need to stay up and watch too. Just let me lay down. Always
now. My grace, the hymn writers say,
my grace is not, was, and not will be. It's flowing now. Each hour and each moment my
needs to supply. The deeper I dip, still the deeper
it's growing. No drought can diminish or dry. My heart from the future no trouble
shall borrow. Eternal this present provision
shall be. assured for today and assured
for tomorrow, such grace is sufficient for me. I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed." The rest of that verse in Isaiah
43 and 1. But now, fear not, for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, you are mine. You are mine. Now he's given
us that sweet, sweet pillow to lay our weary heads down on.
And as we do, let us remember what else he said. When you pass
through the waters, no, he doesn't say if you pass through the waters,
there's no if about it. But when you pass through, bless
his name, there's no if about this either. I will be with you. No if about it. And through the
rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the
fire, you won't even be burned. You won't even be burned. Just
a dross. Just a dross. Neither shall the
flame kindle upon you. And as we said, that one who
spoke those words in Isaiah to his people is the eternal I Am. the same one that speaks the
words here. That one John speaks of when
he wrote in chapter 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. And 700 years later, as we said,
when he spoke those words of comfort in Isaiah, he tells his
disciples, believe what I'm telling you, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Are you looking at it with me?
In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so,
I would have told you. I'm not snowballing you. I'm
not selling you a bill of goods. I'm the way to the Father's house. I'm the truth. I can't lie. And I'm telling you the truth.
I'm going to prepare a place for you. And every one of the
11 that heard those words are now with Him in glory, plus a
whole lot more that no man can number. And every believer that
finds comfort from these words right now are going to be with
Him in glory. There won't be any left behind
because of the faithfulness of the Great Shepherd. In my Father's
house are many mansions. May God the Holy Spirit give
us comfort, give us comfort by these precious words spoken by
the Lord Jesus Christ, the comfort that they're intended to convey. Here you have a remedy for a
troubled heart. Here is the great physician's
remedy for a troubled heart. Here the Lord gives his people
the cure for heart trouble. What is it? Believe me. He doesn't send us
off to physicians of no value. He says, believe me. Believe
what I'm telling you. Those physicians we sometimes
have to see as we grow older, it seems, more and more often.
It seems like in the last, for my soul, for myself, two months
or longer now, every week, I've been to a physician. Sometimes
me and Robin have to go see different ones on the same day. then to
the drugstore, then back here, back there. But as we grow older,
that's just the way things are. A lot of times, they don't know
how to treat us. They don't have the answer. I
know this. And many times, they do have
the answer to a physical ailment. Ask them what they can do about
a troubled heart. Next time you go to your family doctor, tell
him, Doc, you got a pill for a troubled heart? What can you
give me for heart trouble? The great physician is the only
one who can cure this ailment, isn't he? And he usually does
so with just a word. Huh? Does that ring a bell? Hasn't
he done it many, many a time? Remember in Mark chapter 5? He
told his disciples, let's pass over to the other side in chapter
4, the close of chapter 4. And on the way there was a storm,
and they thought they were going to drown. How's that possible? They can't drown. He would have
to drown with them. And they come over to the other
side. And so will everyone that's in the ship of his grace. And
they met that poor demoniac. You know the story. You're familiar
with it. That man was insane. He was possessed
of 2,000 demons. He cut himself with stones. He mutilated himself. Nobody
could tame him, we read there in Mark 5. So they resorted to
this. The most they could do was chain
him up and put him out in a cemetery. away from everybody else. Live
with dead people. You can't hurt them. And we read he broke the
chains and just plucked them asunder and no man could tame
him. No man could tame him. That's
why Jesus passed over into the other side. When he saw Jesus, he came running. You remember what our Lord said?
Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. Just his word. The devil's
fell before him. Speaking through this man, we
know who you are. We know who you are. Have you come to torment
us before our time? We know you're the Son of God.
He said, shut up and come out of that man. And the next picture
we get, there sits that poor former demoniac at the feet of
Jesus Christ clothed and in his right mind. Just by the word
of his grace. In that same chapter, Jarius
comes to our Lord. Lord, please come home to me.
Please come to my house, because my daughter is dying. Would you
please come with me? Heal her, raise her up. And our
Lord follows Jarius. And as he's on the way to the
house of Jarius, there's this poor woman that's had an issue
of blood. How many years was it? And she
spent all of her money on all these quacks. And she was nothing
bettered, but only grew worse. And all these multitude of people
are crowding around Jesus, oppressed, it's called. He couldn't hardly
move. He couldn't hardly move through
the street. And I think this woman probably
got down on her hands and knees, because she'd heard of Him. Jesus
of Nazareth is passing by. She said, oh, I've got to get
to Him. If I can just get close enough to reach out and touch
the hem of His garment, I believe I'll be made whole. And that's
exactly what happened. Oh, that's a picture of a desperate
sinner in need of desperate grace, seeking and finding the all-sufficient
Savior. All these things, all these miracles
of physical healing are just what the Great Shepherd does
spiritually in the salvation of the sinner. And you remember
what happened? Oh my soul, I'd like to sing that. She reaches
out that hand. Were people stepping on her?
Probably, probably. But she reaches through. Between
all those feet and all those legs and all that stomping, all
that dust. And she touches the hem of his garment. And just
like that, she's made whole. Just like that. And he stops
in his tracks. He said, somebody touched me. Somebody's touched me. Disciples,
they looked at each other. What's he talking about? What's
he mean? Somebody's... Master, they're
crowding on us from every side. What do you mean somebody touched
you? He said, somebody touched me with the hand of faith because
I feel virtue. Power has gone out of me. You
know the story. She confessed. She fell before
him and confessed. He said, go in peace. Go in peace. Behold thy plague. And he continues
on his way to the house of Uriah. Someone referred to that miracle
of the diseased woman, a miracle by the wayside. And he enters
into the house of Uriah. Before he gets there, someone
comes and says, don't bother. A messenger comes from the house
of Darius and says, there's no need to trouble the master. Your
daughter's dead. Your daughter's dead. Don't waste
his time. And immediately, he said to Darius,
you just believe. You believe. Don't believe what
they say. You believe. You believe what
I'm telling you. Just like he told them, believe on me. Believe in me. Don't let your
heart be troubled. Believe me. Believe me. And he
enters into the house of Darius, speaks a word, arise, young maid
arise, and she that was dead rose up. You have he quickened. That's not a great miracle as
what it represents in pictures. You have he quickened who were
dead. John Copeland. When you were
dead in sin, you could care less about God's grace, less about
God's glory. I think he told me you sat in
a little church or a big church and didn't know God from a goose.
That was fine with you. You didn't want to. You'd never
been lost. But Jesus Christ came to where
you were, dead. And just like we read in Ezekiel,
Christ came by and said, I saw you. I saw you like an aborted
baby cast out into the field. And nobody pitied you. Nobody
had mercy on you. Nobody could help you until I
came by. And I saw you. And it was a time
of love. And I spread my skirt over you.
And you became mine. And I said, live. You have He quick and made alive
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Oh yes, my soul, why wouldn't
we believe Him? Why wouldn't we believe anything
He says? Is there nothing He cannot do?
A couple of weeks ago, there might have been last Sunday's
bulletin, which I went ahead and emailed out to you. even
though we didn't have service. I think it was that one where
I mentioned that one of the wonders of heaven, one of the joys of
heaven will be that there everybody throws their crowns at the feet
of one person. There won't be any songs of praise
sung except of one person. Nobody will be given credit or
want to give credit to anybody but the Lamb of God who sits
upon the throne. You're worthy. I'm looking forward
to that, don't you? Everywhere, everywhere. You can't
get away from it. It's just the religious world
that we live in. They want to divide the glory
between man and give man the most. You take the first step. You make your decision. You give
God a chance. Blah, blah, blah. Oh, but in heaven, it's going
to be, you're worthy. Worthy is the man. You were slain. You're worthy. You've redeemed
us to God. by your own blood. You've made
us kings and priests through our God. Well, who else would
you praise? Who else would you sing the praises
of? And the four beasts said, Amen. They agreed with the angels.
They agreed with the redeemed. And they fall down with him and
worship him that liveth forever and ever. Oh, dear dying lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power. To all the ransomed
church of God, be saved to sin no more. When we enter, when
God's redeemed, enter through the gates into the city, we'll
learn that we are neither unknown there or unexpected. That's exactly right. In John
10, he said, I know my sheep. I'm laying down my life for the
sheep. My sheep know Me, and they follow Me, and they'll follow
Him all the way to glory. We're expected there. Does this
sound like a surprise? Then shall the King say unto
them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
He's expecting them at the Father's house. He Himself brings them
to the Father's house. He, at this very moment, appears
in the presence of God for us. Oh, my soul. Believe Him. Believe
Him. Jesus Christ has given His people
a right to be there. Nothing else, no one else could
do that, but Jesus Christ did. He gave His people a right to
be there. He redeemed them with His own
precious blood. If that doesn't give us a right
to be there, nothing Nothing will. He gave his life a ransom
to many. Therefore, they have a right
to enter into the city through the gates into the city." This is what Paul wrote, giving
thanks unto the Father which had made us meet has given us
the right to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Here's the sickness a troubled
heart. Here's the medicine. Here's the
antidote. Believe me. Not long ago, I went
down to Sylacauga Pharmacy. Some of y'all, I think, Bobby,
you deal with her. Mrs. Hang. Mrs. Hang. Little
old lady. Little Chinese. I really don't
know. Just a delightful little lady.
I mean, she goes beyond what she has to do, but when they
were trying to decide what cocktail might work on my noggin. No wonder
they were having such a tough time with that term. But I took
a prescription that the doctor wrote me, and Mrs. Haines said,
Mr. Larry, Mr. Larry, your cost is
going to be $400. I said, say what? $400, Mr. Larry, very expensive. I
said, Mr. Hank, didn't the insurance pay
nothing? Oh, yeah, they pay something. You still have to pay $400. I
said, you just keep it. You just keep it. We'll let them. She said, oh, I know, very expensive.
I said, don't know if it would have helped anyway. All the prescription
that our great physician gives us always works. It always works. It's always 100% effective. As we mentioned, for Mark 5,
he never made a case that was too hard for him to handle. He
never encountered a disease, a heartache, that wasn't cured
just by his word, by his will. So isn't that something? And
here's his antidote. Here's his prescription. He's
given it to us. Our great physician says, here's
your prescription. You got a troubled heart? Here's
the prescription. Believe on me. Believe me. Believe what I'm telling you.
Oh, even as I say that, I think, oh, how I dishonor him, griping
and complaining and wondering and trying to take matters into
my own hands. And every time I do that, I make
a mess. And he said, Larry, just believe me. Just believe me. This is the article that I referred
to by Bruce Crabtree. This was in Donnie Bell's bulletin
for the day. But Bruce wrote this. This is
just the last of several things Bruce wrote along this subject,
but let me just share the last point with you. Don't let me
betray my Savior. We read about Judas in John 18.
That's what Bruce is referring to. Don't let me say what Judas.
What will you give me? And I will deliver him to you.
What will you give me for the time I spend in private prayer
to him? My time of seeking him and his
word. What will you give me for my love to him? My desire for
him, my public profession of him, my time of fellowship with
his people. What will you give me? And I
will deliver him to you. I'll give him up for those. Oh,
Lord, Bruce, pray. Just touch my heart. Oh, Lord,
I'm such a wretch. I will prove like Judas at last
if you do not love me and pray for me and keep me. Oh, don't
let me be a Judas in my heart." And I prayed that same prayer.
Because I know if he doesn't, that's exactly what I'll be.
I'll deny him in various ways if he doesn't keep me. Oh, but
here's the antidote for that. Believe me, Lord. Believe me. Hear your great shepherd sing.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. They
shall never perish, neither shall any man ever pluck them out of
my hand. The Father that gave them to
me is greater than all, and none can pluck them. There we are. in his hand, in the Father's
hand, now who's going to get to us? A futile, futile, futile effort. And this great and good shepherd,
as David said in his famous song, the great shepherd, the good
shepherd, the chief shepherd, David said, he's my shepherd.
Oh, he's my shepherd. I belong to him. And he belongs
to me. Bobby, I am his that you used
to sing, and he is mine. He is mine. How about that? There was an
old preacher who went to be with the Lord 300 years ago. A little over 300 years ago.
200, over 200 years ago. I'm not good with arithmetic. He died
in 1799, you figure it out. He's been in heaven a long time,
hasn't he? Samuel Medley was his name. Toward the end of his
life, the writer said he trod a path of great suffering, but
when he was called upon to cross the river, he was able to say,
dying is sweet work. Sweet work. My Heavenly Father,
I'm looking up to my dear Jesus, my God, my portion, my all in
all. And then, a little before he
died, he said, glory, glory, home, home. And without a struggle
or a groan, he was taken to heaven on July 17, 1799. He wrote this. He said, on Christ, salvation
rests secure. The rock of ages must endure.
Nor can that faith be overthrown which rests upon the living stone.
No other hope shall intervene. To him we look. On him we lean.
other foundations we disown and build on Christ, the living stone. In him it is ordained to raise
a temple to Jehovah's praise, composed of all his saints who
own no savior but the living stone." I'm sure with you, Robin
and I, I have watched the evening news lately. We were watching
it the other evening, weren't we? about that tragedy in Afghanistan. That's just heartbreaking. That's
just tragic. They were interviewing the pilot
of that big cargo plane that packed 824 people on, Afghans,
to get him out of there. They were interviewing him after
he came back to this country. And I looked at Robin. I said,
can you imagine? Can you imagine how those poor,
frightened, terrified people, they knew what the Taliban would
do to them. They're doing it now. Plus the
other of those nuts, other ISIS and al-Qaeda and all of them.
But can you imagine when all those 824 people was packed in
that huge cargo plane. I'd like to see one of those.
It had to be huge. There was a picture. Y'all saw it. I mean,
they're just in there. And they're interviewing the
pilot. And he said, I got all that I could get in there. And
then those great big doors were shut. And they start taxiing
down the runway. And they leave the ground. You
can feel it, can't you, on the plane? You know when it's...
Can you imagine the relief they must have felt? Can you imagine
the fear of being found and hunted like an animal and beheaded that
they had been enduring before? Oh, can you imagine their troubled
hearts until that plane begins to lift off and they're leaving
all that chaos it below, you see the picture. Oh, let not your heart be troubled.
Our Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first, and then we which are alive shall be changed, and so
shall we be caught up to meet him in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. And all this heartache, and all
this trouble, and all this sin is going to be left behind forever.
forever. Oh, I'm looking forward to that.
Aren't you? You've seen this too, and I'll
bring this to a close. I want to share this with you.
You've probably seen it. That poor man that had helped
the United States, an Afghan, was an interpreter that sent
out that video begging Mr. President Please help me. I've got a wife and two daughters.
They've already beat on our door. I'm hiding somewhere else now.
Please help me. You promised. You promised. Please help me, because I'm dead
if you don't." And they interviewed soldiers
that commented on that. And they said, that's sad. That's
despicable. Because our motto is, no man
will be left behind. And again, I told Robin, the
captain of our salvation says, no man, no child of God, no redeemed
sinner will be left behind. You can believe that. I'm going
to the Father's house and none of you, none of you will be left
behind. Let me share this with you and
I'm done. I just got this this morning,
Joe Terrell, Bulletin, came across my desk and I read this hymn
he had in it, to the tune of Amazing Grace, but it was so
good, I thought, I just printed it off, and I'll be done, just
read it to you. If you want a copy, I'll send
it to you. It goes like this, when I look in my wretched heart
and there my nature see, this is my hope, this is my joy, that
Jesus lived for me. When I behold God's holy law
and there my sentencing, this is my hope, this is my joy, that
Jesus died for me. When I see how my days are mixed
with joy and misery, this is my hope, this is my joy, that
Jesus rules for me. And when I ponder on my life,
how swift its end must be, this is my hope, this is my joy, that
Jesus lives for me. When I look out upon this world
and there God's judgments see, this is my hope, this is my joy,
that Jesus comes for me. And when I stand before God's
throne to hear His just decree, that still my hope and joy shall
be, Jesus sits there for me, for me. Let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. God bless you.