This book, this book speaks a good bit about
the full assurance of understanding, the full assurance of hope, the
full assurance of faith. Those aren't ambiguous terms. just sort of left out there in
the air not knowing what they mean. Everyone knows exactly
what the scripture speaks of when it talks about the full
assurance of hope, the full assurance of faith, the full assurance
of understanding. It means if I have hope, real
hope, I have full assurance that that hope is good. If I have
understanding, in the things of God. If I understand the things
of God, I don't guess about them. I have full assurance of those
things revealed in the book. If I have faith in Christ, full
assurance, full assurance. But is it really possible for
men and women like you and me, men and women who know something
of their sin, the depravity of our hearts, the corruption of our nature, the lust of our minds, coldness,
indifference, over much love of this world, so little burning heart love
for God our Savior and things above. Over much attachment to things
that soon must perish, so little attachment to things that are
eternal. Is it possible for sinners, I'm
not talking about folks who talk about things like this lightly.
I'm talking about men and women who know their sin, sinners. Is it possible for a sinner like
Rex Bartley, honestly, to have full assurance of faith? Is it
possible for a man like Merle Hart, honestly, honestly, to
have full assurance of hope? I'll just talk about it and I'll
make jokes about it and I'll speak light about it until I
really have full assurance of understanding. Let's look in
the book and see. Let's see. Let's see if we can
find some men like you, some men like me, people just like
us who have this kind of assurance. Come back to the book of Job.
Job chapter 19. Job chapter 19. I want you to look with me in
the scriptures and see what the book says, see exactly how the
book speaks. Here's a man named Job. This
man Job had such struggles, such struggles with sin, such struggles
with unbelief, such struggles with self-righteousness, such
struggles with despair, such struggles with unbelief, that
I know a good many good faithful men who conclude that Job was
a lost man until you get to the end of the book. I know a good
many good faithful men say that there's no way Job could be saved
and behave like we see him behaving in chapters 1 through 40 in this
book. But Job, God declares, was a perfect man. God declares
he was a righteous man. Now watch what Job says right
in the middle of this book, Job 19. I know. I This is the same man who said
I could I wish I had never bumped. I've never been born This is
this same man is that I wish God had stopped me from coming
out of my mother's womb now I wish I had never seen the light of
the Sun things are just too bad here now watch what Job says
I know that my Redeemer liveth and That he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. I And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Now, what's
language he uses? I know that my Redeemer, not
a Redeemer, not the Redeemer. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know he's going to stand on
this earth. I know I'm going to see him with my flesh, with
my eyes. What's this? Whom I shall see
for myself. Mine eyes shall behold not another,
though my reins be consumed within me. But you should say, you who
persecute me, you who slander me, you who deride me, you should
say, why persecute we him? What's this? Seeing the root
of the matter is found in me. Yes. Yeah, it's possible. It's
possible for a man like you, a man like me, to walk before
God with full assurance of faith in this world. Turn to Psalm
23. Psalm 23. Here's David. We often refer
to the Apostle Paul. He speaks of himself as the chief
of sinners, less than least of all saints, the chief of sinners.
He he says, I know that in me and my flesh was no good thing.
And we we admire the way Paul honestly confesses his sin. If
you want to read about a man confessing his sin, read Psalm
32, Psalm 51. And then read Psalm 73. This
is how David spoke concerning himself. He said, I was as a
beast before thee. I was like a mad, wild, unthinking
beast without conscience before you. But this is how David speaks
that same David, Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The
Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over. Surely, what a word, surely,
because the Lord's my shepherd, surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me. all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." That's the
same man who said, I've washed my hands in innocence here. What
good does it do to serve God? What's it profited me to serve
God? That's the same man who stole Bathsheba from Uriah, her
husband, and had Uriah murdered. That's the same man, the same
man who went to avenge himself with the blood of that wicked
Nabal. That same man, that same man,
David, he says, the Lord's my shepherd. He's my shepherd. In the teeth of all this, David,
what do you have to say now? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, surely, Goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life this same
David when he lay dying With Uriah's wife by his side Constant reminder of his crimes
against God and humanity, against himself, against Israel, and
against his God. She stands there beside him,
and he says, although my house be not so with God, yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordering all things insure. This
is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not
to grow. David walked, he lived, he sank,
and he died with full assurance of faith, believing God. There
was a fellow named Peter. Peter. Folks, they jumped on
Peter a lot more than I think Peter deserved to be jumped on.
Peter had his thoughts, but my soul I'd give my right arm on
behalf of the man he was. Faithful, faithful, faithful
man. But a man full of sin, like you. A man terribly presumptuous,
like me. A man full of pride, like all
of us. A man who thought too much of
himself, just like you and I do. But this man Peter, who cussed
and cussed, and cussed, and denied the Lord Jesus. Didn't just deny
that he knew him, he said, I don't know that man. Denying the very
Godhead of the Savior in the face of his enemies as he sat
and warmed himself beside their fire. He said, we believe and
are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's
Peter. Look in John 17, or John 21 rather,
John 21. Is this man Peter? Is this man
Peter? You remember the Lord Jesus spoke
to those women at the tomb by his angel and said, be sure,
be sure to tell Peter that I'm going to meet him in Galilee,
just like I said I would. And he comes to meet him in Galilee.
Peter When they had died verse 15 John
21 Jesus saith to Simon Simon Peter Simon son of Jonas Lovest
thou me more than these He saith unto him. Yea Lord thou knowest
that I love thee. He saith unto him feed my lambs
All right, Peter I told you I was gonna make you a fish of men
way back yonder Three and a half years ago. And I'm not give up
on you yet. Feed my lambs. Feed my lambs. You said you're going back to
fishing. No, you're not. You're going to feed my lambs.
You don't. He saith unto him again the second time, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my sheep.
You take care of my sheep. Now both times he's used a very
common term for love. Both times he asked him the same
question, do you love me? Do you love me? Much like we
would use the term love when you say to somebody, say goodbye,
I love you, brother Larry. That's the term we use. I love
you, brother Larry. And I do. I do. But then he asked
him a third time. Now watch what he says. He says
to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He leaves off the comparison.
He doesn't say, lovest thou me more than these. He says to him,
lovest thou me? And now he uses the strongest
word there is in human language to speak of love. The strongest
word there is. The kind of word that we would
use, We don't have the variations in our language, but the kind
of way, the way we would say love, if I looked at my wife
and she had some reason to question my love for her, and she seriously,
seriously questioned my love for her, and with a broken heart
I say, honey, you know I love you. That's the word. The strongest
possible word. And now watch this. Peter was
grieved. Because he said to him the third
time, Peter, do you really love me? Do you really love me? Now watch
what he said. Watch what he said. Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. God knows that I love them. But
you see not as man sees. These disciples, my brothers,
all they can see is what they can see. And that ain't much
if they're looking at me. That ain't much if they're looking
at me. All they can see is my fluctuations, and my ups and
downs, and my instability, and my pride, and my arrogance, and
my overstatements, and my understatements, and my denying you. That's all
they can see. But Lord, you look on the heart.
You look on that new man you created in righteousness and
true holiness. You look on me as I really am. And you know all things. You know that I love you. That which is the terror of the lost religious
hypocrite, that which terrifies lost religious men, the omniscience
of God our Savior, Mark Henson, you can't hide one thing from
him. Nothing. And that terrified you
till you knew him. That's like hell in your soul
till you know him. That which terrifies the hypocrite,
he Knows everything. Darkness is light before Him. Nothing's hid from Him. The inmost
recesses of your dark, dark heart are open to Him. Peter says,
this is my great comfort. You know all things. You know
that I love you. Yes, it's possible for sinners
like us to live before God in this world with full assurance
of faith. There's a fellow named Paul,
Saul of Tarsus, saved by God's grace. He said, I know whom I
had believed. And I am persuaded that he's
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. I know. I know. I know there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at his appearing. Boy, that
sure is cocky, isn't it? No? No? Not if you know him. Cocky if you don't, but not if
you know him. That's arrogant, isn't it? No,
not if you know him. That's presumption, isn't it?
No, not if you know him. It's cocky. It's arrogant. It's
presumption if you don't know him. But if you know him, oh,
yeah, I know, Paul says. He has, waiting for me, a crown
of righteousness, and he's going to put it on my head when he
comes again. And he has that for all who love him at his appearing.
Now, turn over to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. Is it possible for people like
us to live in this world and have full assurance of a saving
interest in Christ while at the same time fully acknowledging
and confessing our sin? our ungodliness, our filth, our
depravity, our inability. Let's see. John the Apostle was
inspired by God the Holy Spirit to write this epistle for one
specific reason above all others. Yes, he did this for the glory
of God. Yes, he did this for the comfort
edifying of the saints. Yes, he did this to teach us
and instruct us in many things. But this is what it says is the
principle overriding concern he has in writing this epistle.
Verse 13. John chapter five, first John
chapter five, verse 13. God, the Holy Spirit. Inspired
him to write these things. And this is what he says about
it. These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal
life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. I've written this To you who
believe on the name of the Son of God, to you who believe that
Jesus is the Christ, to you who trust Jesus the Christ as your
Savior, your God, your Redeemer, I'm writing to you, you who believe
on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life. that you have this gift from
God, eternal life by God's own gift, and that you may go right
on believing on the name of the Son of God. Now, obviously, some
who are true believers do not enjoy the blessedness of this
sweet thing called assurance of salvation, assurance of faith,
assurance of life, assurance of understanding. Many don't. Many don't. I'll talk about that
another time, but I won't blame them, and I won't excuse them.
But it is an obvious fact that there are many. Otherwise, John
would not be saying, I've written this so that you who believe
will know that you believe. He said, obviously, he's telling
us, I'm writing these things, I've written these things to
you so that you who believe may know that you have eternal life.
and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God, that
you may continue going on to believe on the Lord Jesus. So
obviously there are some who don't. They struggle with unbelief. They struggle with their own
sin. They struggle with cloudy days. They walk through the world constantly
in doubt, constantly Crying and bemoaning, tis a point I long
to know. Oft it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? I won't
attempt to tell you why that's the case with so many of God's
saints, but their struggles are real. Many do not have this assurance. So John says, now children of
God, listen to me. Listen to me. All that I've written
here, Getting back here in this in this first chapter all that
I've written here when I said I'm telling you what I've seen
and heard and handled for myself I'm telling you I'm telling you
I have seen and handled and heard and witnessed the word of life
Eternal life with the Father Jesus Christ the Lord. I'm telling
you what I know Beginning with that going all the way through
these chapters. He says he's I've done this that you May know
that you have eternal life Pay attention to what I taught you
that you may know that you have eternal life Having said that
Let me be very quick to tell you the Word of God is full of
warnings It is full of warnings about presumption When I was seven years old, I can't remember things this
morning. Then you came in a little bit
ago and asked me what you were going to preach on. I had to stop and think for just
a minute what God was. But I forget things pretty quick. But I can
remember things real clearly that happened when I was three,
four, five, six, seven years old. I'd tell you lots of things
just in detail. When I was seven years old, I
was sitting in a church building, Baptist Church in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. sitting about three-quarters of the way back
about where lynch is sitting there and Had a preacher who had a
stirring. I don't have any idea what he
preached about had a stirring invitation altar call they called
it and I Just got scared to death of going to hell had been for
a while And I came to the forward like everybody else did and I
knelt down somebody talked me into making a profession of faith
and told me now now Don I Write this down, you're saved now.
I'm writing it down right here. You remember it. On this day,
God saved you. Don't anybody ever tell you any
different. Don't anybody ever tell you any different. And that's
the kind of assurance most religious people have. I talked to a lady today. If
I had been talking to her face to face, I would have said other
things to her. She doesn't go to church anywhere,
but she called and talked to me a little bit. She said, I'm
a Christian. And I wanted to say to her, what
makes you think so? But I was busy preparing this message here
and I couldn't couldn't really handle it over the phone Everybody
thinks they're Christian because they made a profession thinks
they're Christians because they go to church thinks they're Christians
because they abide by their church rules Thanks, they're Christians
because they've changed their lives think they're Christian
because they they've joined the church come to church Give a
little money here and there make some contributions this that
or the other or they teach Sunday school or they preach or the
good missions feel and they hide from God in religion. That's
what most people are doing in church. They're hiding from God. Not seeking Him, hiding from
Him. It's a great refuge for them. But it's a refuge of lies. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 28.
Let me show you this. We'll look at a bit of scripture
here. Isaiah 28. Amos said, Woe unto them that
are at ease in Zion. He said God said by his prophet
Obadiah the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee Multitudes
hide from God in a religious refuge in a religious refuge
Isaiah 28 verse 14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord you
scornful men That rule this people with which is Jerusalem Because
you have said You is it we made a covenant with death With hell
we're at agreement. I went to the Billy Graham Crusade
and I've got things fixed up with God. I Went down to the
Baptist Church with now knelt at the morning bench. I knelt
at the altar I prayed through I signed the decision card. I
made my decision for Jesus and everything's okay I'm not afraid
of death anymore. I'm not afraid of hell anymore.
I've got a covenant with death I've got an agreement with hell
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through I It shall
not come unto us. I know there's going to be judgment
for some folks. We've got that thing fixed up. We've got that thing
fixed up. For we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a foundation stone. Throw a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet. All right, let's measure
your refuge. You remember that man in Ezekiel
with the measuring reed, that man in Revelation with the measuring
reed? Let's measure your refuge. I'm
not a builder, as many of you fellows are, but I've seen you
fellows use that plummet line. Let's see how straight it is.
I've seen you use that level. Let's see how square this thing
is. Let's see if your refuge measures up. Let's see if it'll
stand. God says, I'm going to lay judgment
to the line. and righteousness to the plummet. And when I do, the hell shall
sweep away your refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow
the hiding place. You can't hide any longer. I'm going to strip you naked,
and your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your
agreement with hell shall not stand. Then you'll tremble. Then you'll squall like a baby
going to hell. Then you'll cry out to God for
mercy as you go to hell. You'll squall and tremble when
the overflowing scourge shall pass through. Then you shall
be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth,
it shall take you. For morning by morning shall
it pass over, by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation only
to understand the report. It should be a vexation only
to understand the report. An everlasting vexation to your
soul. In the everlasting torments of
the damned in hell. Read on. For the bed, the bed
you've chosen, your good works, your decision for Jesus, your
deciding to follow Jesus, your praying through, your joining
the church, your baptism, your saying I believe in Jesus your
bed is so short you can't possibly be comfortable on it man can't stretch himself on
it and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself
in it multitudes multitudes We'll hear
our Lord Jesus in the day of judgment sentence them to hell.
And this is what they will say. This is what they will say. Lord? Lord? What are you talking about? What? What are you talking about? You can't send us to hell. Those fellows may be, but not
us. Have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not done many
wonderful works in your name? Have we not cast out demons in
your name? Lord, don't you remember all
that we've done? Don't you remember all that we've
said? Don't you remember all that we've sacrificed? Don't
you remember? And he will say, depart from
me, you cursed. I never knew you. Multitudes. You see, we live in a religious
world. And I try to preach to folks.
I bear this in mind, and I meet with it everywhere I go, as I
go back and forth across and up and down this country, as
I go back and forth across the oceans to other countries and
preach the gospel. I'm preaching to a generation
of folks, a whole generation of people who've been duped with
a refuge of lies in which they hide from God. And the refuge
is their own will and their own works. Their own will and their
own works. If you are yet hiding in such
a refuge, I pray that God will destroy that refuge now. Knock the props out from under
you. Give you no place of rest, no
comfort for your soul, no peace until you find refuge in Jesus
Christ the Lord. Oh God help you now come to Christ. Come to Christ. trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the book says. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. One of the most sobering things
I can imagine a man dealing with. I've told you many times What
happened with Brother Bruce Crabtree when he was visiting his dad.
His dad was a Pentecostal sort of fellow. Had been a preacher
one time. And Bruce was trying to witness
to him when he was about to die, Bill. And he said, Dad, you've
got to give up your righteousness and trust Christ alone. And his daddy looked at him and
he said, son, I can't do that. I can't do that. Go before God in judgment with
nothing but Christ? I can't do that. And you can't
either. Unless God gives you faith in
His Son. Unless God gives you faith in His Son. And I want
to tell you something. You will either drop all your
imaginary goodness and go to heaven on Christ. Are you cling
to your goodness and go to hell with your righteousness? There's
no in between ground. You will either drop all hope
in yourself and cling only to Christ and go to glory trusting
him. Are you cling to yourself and
go to hell imagining you're good? Look at that text again. These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God. That you may know that you have
eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son
of God. Look back in chapter three, first
John chapter three, uh, verse 14. We know that we have passed from
death unto life. We know that we have passed from
death unto life. That implies we were dead, and
we know we were dead. We were dead. Dead in trespasses
and in sins. Dead in our father Adam. Spiritually
dead. I don't mean mentally dead or
physically dead. Even morally dead. I mean spiritually
dead. Very much alive to the world.
Very much alive to our senses. Very much alive to the things
around us. But dead with regard to God,
heaven, and eternal life. spiritually dead. What does that
mean? What does it mean to be spiritually
dead? For the sake of brevity, just listen to me. To be spiritually
dead is to be ignorant of God. There was a time when I didn't
know God. Oh, I knew that God is. Everybody
knows that. I knew that God is going to sit
in judgment. Everybody knows that. I knew
that I was going to meet God in judgment. Everybody knows
that. But I didn't know God. I didn't know God. I was dead.
I didn't know who he was, knew nothing of his character, his
attributes, his work, knew nothing about God. Didn't know God from
a bit ago. You could as well convince me
that a gorilla is God or a man is God as convince me that Jesus
is God if you're just smart enough and can argue good enough. And
the same is true of all men by nature. Man who's dead doesn't
know God. He's dead and he doesn't know
he's dead. If he knew he's dead, he wouldn't be dead. He's dead.
That's the nature of man. Dead. Dead and trespasses in
a sense, spiritually dead, without any knowledge of God. The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Doesn't
know it. Don't know God's character. The
Jews, Paul tells us in Romans 10, go about to establish their
own righteousness, being ignorant of the righteousness of God.
ignorant of the righteousness of God. I was dead in trespasses
and in sins, spiritually dead. And when I was, I didn't know
my sin. I didn't know my sin. Now, I
knew I did a lot of bad things. I knew that. And I was scared
to death of dying because I knew I'd done a lot of bad things.
I knew that. What kind of fellow do you want
your daughter to date? What kind of fellow do you want your son
to run around with? I knew I'd been horribly evil in my behavior,
but I didn't know a thing on earth about sin. I really didn't. I really thought I was good inside,
good as anybody else, and often argued it. Often argued it. Oh, I could change anytime I
wanted to. I just didn't want to. I could
do better, I just didn't want to. And knew nothing about what's
in me. Knew nothing about my heart. Depravity. Corruption. Blasphemy. Filth. Bubbling up inside me. Vomiting
out of me all the time. And that's what sin is. Sin is
not what you do. That's just the act. Sin is what
you are. Sin is what you are. Not many
folks know that. Not many folks do. I don't know
who here knows that. But I know this, until you find
out what you are inside, you're dead. You're dead. Until you
find out your sin, you're dead. You don't know God. You don't
have any idea of things. I'm talking about you. You don't
see the kingdom of God You sure can't enter into it. I Was dead
When I was dead, I was completely under the dominion of sin Let
me show you this turn to Romans chapter 6 Romans chapter 6 Verse
14 Those who are spiritually dead are under the dominion of
sin utterly completely under the dominion of sin. Look at
verse 14. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that
to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants
ye are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience
unto righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being then made free
from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. When I was under the dominion
of sin, dead, I really thought I could control sin. I really
thought I could handle it. I really thought sin isn't really
that which has the mastery over me. No, no, this is the way I
choose. I really thought sin was something
I could suppress and control. But being now freed from sin,
made the servant of righteousness, living to God, I understand. Oh my God, how I understand. Mark Henson, I can't control
a single thought. Not a thought. Not a thought. How often do you when your mind
grasps greedily after the world and you begin to covet something
somebody else possesses or your mind runs to the filth of your nature and you try to control it and suppress it And it just runs more wildly. Do I speak the truth or do I
not? I know! I can't control sin! Because now I'm alive. Now I'm
alive. When I was dead, when I was dead,
I had no hunger, no thirst after righteousness. I was like the Pharisee, content
with fig leaves. But those who are made alive
from God, hunger and thirst after righteousness. Hunger and thirst
after righteousness that suits God. Righteousness that satisfies
God. Righteousness that pleases God. Righteousness that only God himself
can provide. Righteousness that will meet
God in judgment in complete complacency. Oh, that I may have such righteousness. When I was dead, had no desire
for it. When I was dead, dead in trespasses
and in sins, I didn't trust the Son of God. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. I was dead, spiritually dead,
dead in Adam, dead in trespasses and in sins, until God the Holy
Spirit gave me life and faith in Christ. We were dead, but
we know We passed from death unto life. Oh, what a change. What a change. Ezekiel describes
that infant cast out from his mother's womb, that aborted infant
cast out in the desert in his own blood. You could just, you
could picture that, that poor child out there, that hot sun
rotting in his blood. Filthy, stinking dead. Cast off,
unwanted, uncared for. Nobody wanted it. Cast aside
like a piece of wasted garbage. And the Lord Jesus said, I pass
by thee. And I spread my skirt over thee. When you were polluted
in your blood, I said to you, live. And you became mine. And I put my beauty on you. And you were made beautiful through
my comeliness that I put on you. I made you alive. He speaks of
those bones, that valley of dry bones, where there'd been a great
slaughter that had taken place, a mighty army slain. But the
spirit of God comes and blows upon the bones. And by the word
of God, the bones arise, and flesh comes upon the bones, and
breath in their lungs, and a mighty army is made to live. And God
says, that's what I've done for you. That's what I've done for
you. Scriptures give us a picture of that man, Lazarus, dead for
four days, stinking already, dead. And the Lord Jesus said,
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth. How did he do that? By the command
of life. By the command of life. So he
has given me life. We have passed from death to
life. Now, I know God. I know God. This is life eternal that they
might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. I've known most of you folks
for 35 years or better. Some of you longer than that. And some of you spent a lot of
time with. I spent a lot of time with her. I spent a lot of time
with her. I'm going to tell you something. I know God better than I know
her. I know God better than I know
her. Cause I don't know all of her. I do know all the character of
God almighty. I know his sovereignty, his righteousness,
his justice, his truth, and his grace. Oh, I know his grace. I know God sits on his throne
and has mercy on whom he will have mercy. And it does it only
justly through the sacrifice of his darling son. I know God. I know my sin, and now I'm freed from sin. And now I'm seeking Christ and
His righteousness. Paul said, I forget those things
are behind. pressed toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I don't
consider that I've apprehended anything. No, no, no. But I'm
pursuing Christ Jesus the Lord, never content with my righteousness,
trusting only His. Now, I believe on the Son of
God. I trust Christ. But Brother Don, the text there
in 1 John 3, 14 says, we know that we pass from death unto
life because we love the brethren. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. I am loved. by you. I can't tell
you how I thank God for that. I'm loved by you. I'm loved by
that lady there. Loved as her husband, yes. Loved
as her pastor, yes. Loved as her brother, yes. But let me ask you, are you prepared
to stand before God and say you're confident you're His because
of your love for me? If so, you don't know God. Well, how? How can this be? We
know we pass from death into life because we love the brethren.
Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. I'll show you. 1 Corinthians
chapter 13. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, And have not charity. Have not charity. This is His commandment that
you believe on His Son, and that you love one another as He gave
His commandment. The first commandment, love God with all your heart.
Second, love your neighbor like yourself. On these two things,
hang all the law and the prophets. Well, but when we get down to
this thing of salvation, God says for us to trust Christ,
and if you really want to know that you're a child of God, you
do it! because you love your brothers,
you're good to your brothers, you sacrifice for your brothers,
your heart beats for your brothers, you're tender toward your brethren.
All those things are true, but that's not the basis of my hope.
That's not my comfort. I do love you, and I do love
my Redeemer, and I do love God's people. I give my life in service
to God's kingdom. But that doesn't give me any
hope. I still love me too much. How
about you? That doesn't give me any hope.
What does then? Love charity is Christ. It's Christ. I read this chapter once in a
message years and years ago, and my dear friend Nita Honey,
who's now in severe straits, beginning
of dementia and Alzheimer's, she called me up after hearing
the message, and she said, the way you read that chapter, oh,
it helped me. Well, read it just like this.
I'm convinced this is how it ought to be read. Though I speak
with the tongues of men and angels, and have not Christ, I become
a sounding brass or tinkling cymbal. And though I have the
gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have faith, all faith, so that I can remove mountains,
and have not Christ, I'm nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not Christ, it profits me nothing. And brother Don,
I'm not sure that's doing justice to the scriptures. Read the next
verse and see. Christ suffereth long and is
kind. Christ envieth not. Christ vaunteth
not himself, is not puffed up, doth not behave himself unseemly,
seeketh not his own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Now which one of you have love
like that? Which one has love like that? I promise you, anybody
who loves anybody like that, I'll sit down and you get up
here and talk. Do you love your own daughter
like that? Nobody. No. But Christ does. Christ does. He is the perfection of love.
All that God requires. Not just doing of good things,
not just obeying God's law in its outward commandments, but
in every detail, Christ is all. Christ never faileth. Christ
never faileth. Now, go back to 1 John chapter
5. I'll quit. I'll quit. I preached
too long, way too long. Forgive me. Verse 13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. Look at verse 19. And we know,
we know that we're of God. And the whole world lieth in
wickedness, and we know that the Son of God is come. and hath
given us an understanding that we may know him that is true,
and we are in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life. These things I declare
to you that you may know that you have eternal life. Oh, may
God write them on your heart. Amen. You're dismissed.