Back in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses 11 and 12. As we pointed out in the reading,
Peter uses this expression several times. Seeing then, seeing then. If you see this, then look for
this. If you really believe this, then
do this. seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved. All these things. All these things. All material
things, all earthly possessions, all relationships, all these
things shall be dissolved. That being so, what manner of
persons He's talking to believers. What manner of persons ought
ye to be, if you really believe that, that this world will be
dissolved? What manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Seeing that that's
so, therefore, looking, looking for, looking for and hastening
unto, or we're looking for that day of the Lord and we're hastening
to it. They're drawing closer and closer.
Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. Looking
for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall
melt with verbant heat. Those two verses comprise the
question that Peter asked. In light of this certainty that
God will come He's not slack, like the scoffers and the mockers
say. God's not slack. That can never
be the reason. He will destroy, as Peter writes
here in chapter 3, this present world and everything that's in
it. And he'll create a new one. A
new one, as we read in verse 13, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Seeing that that's so, believing
God's word, Wherefore, verse 14, beloved, seeing that ye look
for such things, ye look for these things, be diligent that
ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. What matter of persons ought
ye to be? The title of my message is Taking
Inventory. Taking Inventory. I think that's
a good description of what Peter does here, or exhorts us to do,
to take inventory. There are several definitions
of that word, but one is this. It means a detailed and often
descriptive list of articles, even giving the number and value
of each. Now take that definition and
apply it to this. Your treasure, which is in heaven,
and the riches, as John made mention of this morning in his
lesson, the riches of God's grace. Now that's an inventory. We could
have taken our text for that subject from many places in God's
Word, couldn't we? For example, turn back, if you
will, to Romans. Romans chapter 13. Paul is in
perfect agreement with Peter. Of course he is. They both wrote
under inspiration of God's Holy Spirit. But believers, no matter
when they may have lived, today, 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago,
they're always pilgrims and strangers in this world. No matter where
they are, no matter when they might have lived, Here in Romans
chapter 13, Paul writes at verse 11, and that knowing the time,
just like Peter said, that now it is high time to awake out
of sleep. Why, Paul? Why? For now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us therefore,
in light of that, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness
and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as
in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering
and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill
the lust thereof. Mr. Spurgeon preached from those
verses that I just read to you in Romans 13, and the title of
his message was, Dressing for the Morning. I thought that was
very good. Dressing for the morning, that
eternal morning, that day that shall never end, when God shall
call all of his people home. We all will eat soon, as Peter
reminds us of, We'll leave this world behind. As one old writer
expressed it, every tree in this forest, this world, every tree
in this forest is marked for destruction. Every one of them.
Every one of them is marked for destruction. Don't build your
nest in it. Don't build your nest in any
of them. Wednesday evening, several of
us met for supper at a restaurant. I was sitting next to Terry,
and I asked him, knowing I tease Terry a little bit when his birthday
approaches, about how old he is and so forth. He's three months
older than me. But I said, Terry, can you tell
me what you've learned in these 65 years? Give me some words
of wisdom. What stands out? And he said,
how fast they've gone by. That's the first thing. Oh, how
fast they've gone by. And so it is. In Psalm 90, let me read you
a few verses of it. In light of this brevity of life. How short our existence here
in this world. This was the prayer of Moses.
Psalm 90. And Moses said, oh, for a thousand
years in thy sight, that is, in God's sight, just as Peter
said, or but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in
the night, no sooner here than gone. Thou carriest them away
as with a flood, they are as asleep. In the morning they are
like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourishes.
In the morning. In the morning of our youth,
our vigor. Oh, but that doesn't last very
long, does it? In the morning it flourisheth
and groweth up, and in the evening, in the evening, as swiftly as
one day, our life is over. In the evening it is cut down
and withereth. And Moses says this in light
of that fact. So teach us to number our days,
since there are so few, Since we're here just for a moment,
since our life is like a vapor, teach us, Lord, to number our
days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom, true wisdom. Notice verse 8 here in chapter
3 of 2 Peter. But beloved, be not ignorant
of this one thing. Not many things, one thing. The subject of brother Peter's
epistle. The one thing is needful. Is that not what our Lord said
to Martha? You know this story so very well. In Luke chapter
10, the Lord came to Bethany. Oh, what a guest, what a guest.
The Lord came to Bethany. God in the flesh visited that
home in Bethany. One of the few places in the
world that he was welcome. One of the very few. And on that rare and blessed
occasion, Mary, Martha's sister, sits at his feet, gives him her
undivided attention. He deserves it. He deserves it. This is a rare occasion. And
she just sits there like a sponge soaking in every word. And at
the very same time, Martha is out in the kitchen rattling pots
and pans. Many things are on Martha's mind. Many things make her anxious
and cumbered. And she even comes to our Lord
and says, this is not right, fully expecting that the Lord
Jesus would rebuke Mary. But it wasn't so. Martha, Martha,
he said, thou art careful, anxious about many things, many things
trouble you, Martha. Many things are on your mind.
Many things have you anxious, worried, bothered. One thing,
just like Peter said, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. One thing is needful. One thing. It doesn't make any difference
at all if I can grab all these other things if in doing so I
neglect the one thing. The one thing. Seek ye first. John, you taught for Matthew
6 this morning. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and these other things the Lord will provide for you. One
thing is needful, this one thing after all, the Lord Jesus Christ.
After all, that is the one thing that matters. The one thing that's
all important. The one thing that counts. Paul
said, this one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind,
I press toward the mark of the high calling of the prize in
Christ Jesus. One thing. I would to God I can
convince people of that. Lester, I would that I can convince
my daughter, my son, my grandchildren of that. I see them consumed
with the many things. All their time, all their effort,
all their energy is devoted to the things, things, things. Got
to have more things than the neglect of the one thing. The
one thing that will present me faultless before the throne of
God. The one thing that will bring me into heaven robed in
the perfect righteousness. The one thing needful for that
is the Lord Jesus Christ. My daughter-in-law, Donna, married
to my oldest son. She's very good at sending me
pictures. And I enjoy them very much. They
were visiting my mother in West Virginia a few weeks ago. Donna
and Larry Dale, my son, and his daughters. And that same weekend,
my oldest brother was there for a funeral. His sister-in-law
had died. And Donna sent me a picture of
my oldest brother, Jim. Some of you have met him. Standing
with his arm around the shoulder of my elder son, Larry Dale. Standing in my mother's living
room. And I looked at that, my oldest brother that I love, my
oldest son that I love, and I thought neither one of them know God. Neither one of them know God. They're both lost. They're both
lost. Oh God, reveal to them the one
thing needful. That is to be found in Christ. Because in Him, Paul wrote, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It's all in Christ. And the very next verse says,
you're complete in Him. He's complete. He's complete. And you're complete in Him, all
to be found in the Beloved. As the old hymn says, in the
Beloved. That's where I want to be, don't
you? That's where I want to be. Because when I stand before God,
when a few more days are gone, and I'm ushered into the presence
of God, If I'm not found in Christ, if I'm not in Christ, I will
hear, depart from me. You're cursed. You're cursed. You're not blessed. You're cursed.
Depart into everlasting darkness. If I'm not in the Beloved, then
I'm lost. Oh, but in the Beloved, how safe
my retreat. John, in the beloved accounted
complete. Who can condemn me? There's no
condemnation of those who are in Christ Jesus. Who can condemn
me? In him I am free, savior and
keeper, forever is he. In the beloved, in the beloved
I went to the tree. There in his person by faith
I can see. Infinite wrath rolling over his
head, infinite grace, for he died in my stead. He laid down His life for me.
In the Beloved, God's marvelous grace calls me to dwell in this
wonderful place. God sees my Savior. And then He sees me. In the Beloved,
accepted and free. Again, verse 11, Seeing then
that all these things shall be desired, is it not reasonable
to obey our Lord's command that John taught from this morning? Don't lay up for yourself treasures
on earth, but treasure in heaven. Where your treasure is, that's
where your heart's going to be. Don't fret, worry. What you'll
eat, what you'll drink, wherewithal you shall be clothed. This is
what the heathen seek after, those who don't know God. Don't
be like them. Don't be like them. You're not
of the world, our Lord prayed. Father, keep them. They're in
the world, but they're not of the world. I've chosen them out
of the world. And I'm not asking you, Father,
to take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil that's
in the world. In 1 John, chapter 2, he wrote,
love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,
child of God. He's writing to you and I. John,
like Peter, was writing to believers. This is a needful reminder. Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man loved the world, the love of the Father's not in him. No
matter how much he may profess, if he loves this world, the love
of God is not... If he loves this world, he doesn't
know Christ. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, are not of the Father, but is of the world. And the
world passeth away. The world passeth away in the
lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Child of God, is that not important? When a believer neglects the
one thing needful, Christ, his glorious gospel, the fellowship
of his people, when he neglects for the many things, the one
thing, it never ends well. Louie, it never ends well. And
I speak from personal experience. It never ends well. They hurt
themselves and they hurt any of those that they have influence
over. Are those things the one thing
needful? Is that important? Well, ask
poor Lot. You remember Lot. Oh, what a
blessed beginning he had when God called Abraham to leave his
father, where he lived, and go out and look for a city whose
builder and maker was God, we read that Lot, Abraham's nephew,
went with him, journeyed with him. Isn't that impressive? And then when it was necessary
for them to separate, instead of remaining as a wanderer, as a pilgrim and a stranger in
the world, we read in Genesis 13 that Lot chose all the plain
of Jordan. He cast his tent toward Sodom. And it's not very long before
he takes down his tent and moves everything into Sodom. Sodom. We read in Genesis 13, but the
men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord. And that's where Lot took his
family. God says, I'm going to destroy
Sodom. Sends two angels down to get
Lot out. And at midnight, After receiving
the message, God's going to destroy Sodom. Lot, it's time to get out. It's
time to get out. If you've got any loved ones
here, tell them, it's time to get out. This is to me one of the saddest
pictures in God's Word. That old man goes to his son's-in-law,
those who had married his daughters. He goes to their houses at night
And he knocks on the door of Egypt. And he says, get ready. Get ready. God's told me he's
going to destroy this wicked city. We've got to get out of
here. Can you just picture that? And we read in Genesis 19, And
Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his
daughters, and said, Get you up out of this place, for the
Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked
unto his sons-in-law. They didn't believe him. They
didn't believe him. Lot had lost all influence. all respect of his family, and
oh, what a price he paid. I dare say that Lot went to his
grave. He spent the rest of his days
saying to his son, oh, my soul, I wished I'd never went to Sodom. Oh, it has cost me. Oh, what a price I paid, seeing
then that all these things shall be dissolved, what matter of
persons are ye to be. In our handbook on page 229,
there is a hymn entitled, Tell Me the Old, Old Story. The last
verse says, Tell me the same old story when you have cause
to fear. that this world's empty glory
is costing me too dear. Please do. Louis, Lester, Terry,
please do. Anyone. Anyone that cares anything
for my soul, has any love for me. If you ever see that this
world's vain glory is costing me too dear, if you see me reaching
for the many things and neglecting the one thing needful, please
tell me. Larry, stop that. Stop that.
Don't do that. It's costing me too dear. It's not worth it because all
these things shall be dissolved. You remember well our Lord's
parable on this very subject of the rich fool who said, well,
it's time for me to retire. I've got more than I need. As
a matter of fact, I'm going to have to build bigger barns to
store all my stuff in, all my many things. And then after I
do that, I'm just going to lean back and say to myself, soul,
take your ease. Eat, drink, and be merry, because
you have all these things laid up for many, many years. But God, but God, and he may do so with us this
day, might be Lester, this day. This same crowd might not be
here next Sunday. Might be some missing, you know
why? Because God may do what our Lord said. He may say, this
night, this night, thy soul shall be required of thee, and then
shall all these things be. And then our Lord made application
of that parable. He said, so is everyone Not just
the rich fool, so is everyone that layeth up treasure for himself
and is not rich toward God. It's just not worth it. Child
of God will leave this world too. It's not our home anyway. And in Peter's first epistle,
he reminds us in chapter 1 that we have a reservation in heaven. That's my home, John. That's
my home. That's my father's house. That's
where my elder brother is. He's prepared a place for me.
And he's promised that where he is, in the father's house,
that's where I'll be. When I'm traveling sometimes
and I make a reservation at a motel, it's okay, it'll do. that little
room, but it's not home. It's not home. It's just temporary. It's just temporary till I get
home. This world is just temporary. Oh, for grace to do as Moses
did. Moses counted the riches of Pharaoh
to be nothing. We read in Hebrews 11, compared
to the riches of Christ, Moses esteemed the riches of Christ
better than anything Pharaoh could offer and Moses turned
his back on it and went out of Egypt because that wasn't his
home. Oh, for grace to do the same.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, we too shall leave it all behind. All behind. all of our sorrow,
all of our pains, all death, all of our tears, all of them,
all of them. I know you shed tears. For many
reasons, so do I. Oh, but in our heavenly home
in the Father's house, We'll never have a reason to
cry. Never have a reason to cry. He's going to wipe away all tears. You'll never hear anybody weeping
in the Father's house. They'll have no reason to. Think
of that. He that sits upon the throne
says, Behold, I make all things new. In Revelation chapter 21,
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. What do you weep about? God's
gonna wipe it away. What do you cry about? What breaks
your heart? It won't exist then. God's gonna
wipe it away. We'll be in that place wherein
dwelleth only righteousness. And above all that, my soul,
Larry, you mean there's something more? There's something better
than that? Being in that place of no pain,
no sorrow, no tears, no death? Oh, yes, there's this. To me,
this is the greatest promise in the Word
of God. Revelation chapter 22, they, they whose tears are all
wiped away, those who will suffer no more pain, in addition to
that, above and beyond even that, they shall see His face. Think about that. They shall see His face. Father, He prayed in that high
priestly prayer. He's getting ready to go and
be made sin. He's getting ready shortly after
that. He prayed that prayer to trod the winepress alone. You
read John chapter 17, and he doesn't say anything about himself.
It's all about his children. Everything's about them. It's
all for them. Even in that hour, when he sweat
great drops of blood shortly after, even in that hour, he's
praying, Father, remember them. Father, keep them. Father, sanctify
them. And Father, I will also, that
those whom you have given me be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory.
They shall see his face. You know I've not ate too many
times at a restaurant where they have more than one course, unless
you call the buffet that you go back to again and again. I
suppose that might qualify. But we don't mind when the waiter
at a restaurant takes away the first course when the second
one is even better. We don't mind that doing. Who
then can feel any regret that this present evil world will
be dissolved when God will create heavens and earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness? Now we have the first course,
His grace, but the second will be glory. They shall see his
face. God has promised both. He shall
give grace and glory. Years ago in Danville, when I
was still attending the church there, where Brother Don pastors
preached or attempted to preach from that verse, they shall see
his face in Revelation 22. And sometime after that, not
long after that, Ruth Walsh who is a member of the church. Many
of you know her. She sings, sings very well. She wrote a hymn.
She said, Larry, your message sort of inspired this hymn. And
I want just a verse or two said, but, or rather I'll share with
you. She called it Heaven, Jesus only. Heaven, Jesus only. Many sing
of heaven and of streets of gold. Many long for mansions and of
wealth untold. Help me, Lord, to seek my treasure
just in thee. and to know that heaven is with
thee to be. Jesus only makes it heaven to
me. Jesus only do I long to see.
Without Jesus heaven could not be. Heaven would be hell if he
were not with me. Jesus only. Is that not heaven? Is that not heaven? Samuel Rutherford
wrote several months ago, this was the quote in our bulletin,
He said, I wonder many times that ever a child of God should
have a sad heart. I said, oh, really? Really? We
do. We do. But he said in light of
seeing them, I wonder that they should have a sad heart considering
what the Lord is preparing for them. And we all have good reason
to, don't we? All have good reason to because
we're looking, looking unto that blessed, blessed day. As we strive
to be pilgrims and strangers in this world, remember a few
things. It'll be helpful. It'll be helpful
in enabling us to do so. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
never forget, never forget, the devil will endeavor to make you
forget, but we serve a sovereign God. Now that's the bottom line,
isn't it? We serve a sovereign God. The
mockers and scoffers, just like Peter wrote up, they were around
in David's day. And they said, David, when he's
hiding in a cave, when his very own son has chased him from his
throne and set up his own rule, Where's your God now, David?
Where's God at now? Has Satan ever whispered that
to you? Where's your God at now? A good God? Why is he allowing
this? Why is he letting you pass through
this? Why this? Where's your God now? As Job's wife said, where's your
God now? Job, you've lost everything.
Where's God now? And oh, here's evidence of the
sufficiency of God's grace. Job, David raised their hands
to heaven and says, my God is in the heavens and He has done
whatsoever He is pleased. That's where my God is. Where
He always is. Our God. High and lifted up,
He's in the heavens. And what's he doing? Whatever
he pleases. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
we serve a sovereign God. That's the pillow. That's the
pillow on which we raise our head. Whether by water, steel,
or troubled sea. The captain of our salvation
steers the vessel of grace and he always does so perfectly for
our good and his glory. He never makes a mistake. The very definition of that word
sovereign is within the word reign. R-E-I-G-N. It means God
reigns. Every attribute of God rests
on this, does it not? His sovereignty. After all, what
good is His faithfulness, His mercy, His purpose, His promise? What good is any of that if He's
not sovereign? What does it matter what He has
promised if He's not able to perform it? If He's not able
to bring it to pass, what good is it? Where is the comfort of
Romans 8 and 28 if God can't do that? If he's not sovereign
and is able to work all things together for our good, if he
can't do that, what good is the promise? Oh, but as David said,
he can. He can. He says, my counsel shall
stand and I will do most of my pleasure. My counsel shall stand,
and I'll do some of my pleasure. My counsel shall stand, and I'll
do the best I can. No, the God of glory says, my
counsel shall stand, and I shall do all my pleasure. Now, you can trust that. Only
a rebel, only a rebel has a problem with that. John, I love to hear. I love to be reminded of the
words of my faithful good shepherd. Father, you've given me power
over all flesh. Oh, that's great. I'm in his
hand and none can pluck me out. Oh, I'm so thankful that he's
my sovereign God and Savior. But the rebel, oh, you're in
his hand too. Father, you've given me power
over all flesh. You hear that? I know you find
no comfort in it, but it's true all the same. Everyone's in his
hand to do with whatsoever he will. Oh, the believer bows to
the sovereignty of God. He rests in it, he rejoices in
it, and he confesses happily, of him and through him and to
him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. And here's
the second one. There's only three. First, our
God is sovereign, and we have a great God in safety. Do we
not? We have a great God and Savior. The Lord God said concerning
His righteous servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 42, God
says concerning Him, He shall not fail. He shall not fail. He's able
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him for
he shall not fail. The Lord Jesus Christ shall save
all of his people from their sins because he shall not fail. He will not allow one of the
sheep to be plucked from his hand because that would be a
failure on his part. And God says he shall not fail.
My son shall not fail. He'll bring in an everlasting
righteousness. He'll satisfy justice. He'll
establish everything concerning the covenant of grace. He'll
redeem my people. He'll call those people I've
entrusted into his hands. And one day when I declare that
time shall be no more and this present heaven and earth are
dissolved, he'll bring them all to glory and it will be the brag,
the boast of the captain of our salvation. Father, they're all
here. I've lost none because bless
his name, he shall not fail. I can lie down and rest on that.
I can sleep on that, can't you? If Christ loses one sinner, just
one, and John saw a multitude that none could number, but if
the Lord Jesus Christ should lose one sinner, this sinner,
if I'm not brought all the way home to glory, he would be the
greater loser. That's exactly right. If he loses
this sinner that he's purchased with his blood, this sinner who
by grace looks to him for everything, if anyone or anything can pluck
me out of his hand, then he would be the greater loser. He would
lose his honor. He would lose his glory if that
should happen. And he says, I'll not give my
glory to another. It'll never happen. And then
last of all, brothers and sisters, to encourage us on the way, we
have a God-given, and I'm telling you as Peter
said, things you already know, but hopefully I remind you of
this to stir you up by way of remembrance. Remember this, God
has given us something John precious. God has given us something rare
in this dark religious world. He's given us a fellowship. A fellowship. Those of like precious
faith. Most churches today are bound
together by social ties or family ties. Ask people, why do you
go to that particular church? Because you know they don't preach
the gospel. Well, daddy went there, and his daddy went there. That's it. That's why you go.
Oh, the tie that binds us. We've been redeemed with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul said,
be not deceived. No fornicators, no adulterers,
no idolaters shall inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you. Lester,
such were some of you. And such was I. But God, but God, you've been
washed. You've been clothed in the perfect
righteousness of Jesus Christ. What a precious fellowship. Yes,
we have much to be thankful for. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
pray that God will keep us faithful to Him, to His glorious gospel,
to His blessed Son, to one another. Pray for grace that we do nothing
that would hurt our blessed union in Christ. Don't even give an
ear to anyone who would sow discord among the brethren. Just don't
do it. Just don't do it. Don't listen
to it. Don't listen to it. Turning,
if you will, to Ephesians chapter 4, we'll wrap this up. Ephesians
chapter 4. Ephesians 4 verse 31. Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's
sake had forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also had loved
us and had given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. Oh may God give us grace to do
that because it's worth it. Encourage one another. Encourage
one another. I have someone, a friend, I wouldn't want to call their name,
it'd embarrass them. But this person never fails,
never fails. After I preach, either before
we leave, or either afterwards, usually the same day, let me
know what a blessed blessing the message was to them. Never
fails to tell. This same person always, always
tells me, makes mention of something which is quite rare. Tells me, Larry, the bulletin,
the articles were so good, such a blessing. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. That's so encouraging. It means
a lot. Brothers and sisters in Christ, do that for one another. Let me close by sharing an article
that Brother Maurice Montgomery wrote. God took our dear friend
and brother home a few months ago But sometime before that
he wrote this. He said, I once heard a story
of two brothers being separated by adoption as infants. Neither
one of them knew that they had a brother. They were adopted
by different families. They didn't find out for 25 or
30 years after that. Isn't that something? When finally
they learned of each other's existence, and whereabouts and
arranged a meeting, it was quite an occasion. What joy and happiness
they shared. What joy it should create in
our hearts every time we meet one who professes faith and submission
to our great God and Savior. We are members of Christ and
of one another, a relationship that will never be broken. everlasting,
brothers and sisters from every walk of life, yet having one
mind, one heart, one will, the glory of their one master and
the welfare of the family. Scattered throughout all the
nations of this world, yet all in their hearts seek a country
and that city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
What joy we share, brothers and sisters in Christ, in our one
master, in one another, in our mutual faith and hope, and in
the joy set before us. I thank God for brothers and
sisters in Christ. Grow in grace, and in the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory both
now and forever. Amen. Amen. God bless you.