This morning, Brother Lindsey
expounded to us our Savior's last sermon in John chapter 7. And as he began, he looked at
me and said, if you knew this was the last time you would preach,
what a weight it would carry with you. I endeavor every time
I stand before you or any other assembly of immortal souls to
seek grace from God and a message from God that I would deliver
to you if I knew I would never speak to you again. And I believe
God's given me such a message again tonight. Our text will
be Leviticus chapter 25 verses 18 through 22. But I want us to begin in Proverbs
chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. God enable me to preach and enable
you to hear the message preached. Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. These three words of instruction.
Trust the Lord with all your heart. Trust him entirely in
everything, for everything. Lean not unto thine own understanding. You can't do both. You can't
both trust the Lord and trust your understanding. It can't
be done. It can't be done. You will either
trust the Lord or you'll trust your understanding, not both.
Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways in your house,
in the factory, in the field, in the church house, in all your
ways, in your youth, in the age of your manhood, in your old
age, in your family, with your wife, with your husband, with
your son, with your daughter, with your mother, with your father,
in all thy ways acknowledge him. Acknowledge Him as the Lord you
trust. Acknowledge Him. Bow to His will,
His word, His honor, His glory. And here's His promise. He shall direct thy paths. Now here's a question I want
to answer in this message. Is that really safe and wise? Is it really safe and wise to
trust the Lord, really? The wisest man who ever lived
wrote those words for us that we've just read by divine inspiration. But is it really safe and wise
to trust the Lord, to trust him in all things and for all things? Is that really prudent? I know
this, faith in Christ, is nothing less than the willing surrender
of my life to the rule, dominion, control, and will of the Son
of God, my Lord and Savior. I trust Christ alone for my salvation. I trust him alone as my sin-atoning
substitute. I trust his blood alone for the
pardon of my sin. I trust his righteousness alone
for righteousness before God. Trusting him alone to keep me
in his grace and bring me at last into his everlasting kingdom
and glory. But Christ is more than a fire
escape from hell. Salvation is more than trusting
Christ for salvation. It is more than hoping to go
to heaven when I die by the merits of the Son of God. We often speak
of Christ saving our souls, but that's not Bible language. Christ
didn't redeem your soul. He doesn't save your soul. He
redeemed you. He saved you. The whole man,
lock, stock and barrel. And he will be Lord of all, or
he will not be Lord at all. The Lord Jesus demands that we
trust him with the rule and government of our lives. That's the place
we have difficulty. He demands that we trust him
with the rule and government of our lives, that we gladly
submit to him as Lord, that we surrender our lives to his dominion
so that his word is the word by which our lives are governed.
His will is the will by which our lives are ruled. His glory
is the motive by which we operate in all things. He demands the
surrender of our lives to Him. Christ Jesus is Lord, if He's
Savior. And if He's not your Lord, He
is not your Savior. If He does not rule my life,
He is not my Redeemer. If He does not rule my life,
He will not take me to glory. Turn to Mark chapter 8. Mark
the 8th chapter. Verse 34. When he had called the people
unto him, with his disciples also, he said unto them, whosoever
will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me. Now, there's lots of speculation
about what it is to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow
Christ, but there's no need for the speculation, Frank. He tells
us exactly what he means in the very next verse. For whosoever
will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save
it. What is it to deny myself? It
is to give up my life. What is it to take up my cross
and follow Christ? It is to give up my life. It
is to lose the rule of my life. It is to lose control of my life. It's to gladly give up any rights
of my own to the will of my Lord. That's what it is to believe
on Christ. Our God demands surrender, absolute
surrender in the city of Mansoul to the crown rights of King Jesus. He will be Lord of all or not
Lord at all. In case you don't know it, I'm
a Southerner. And I like that fact. That's
one bit of my heritage I like. I'm delighted to be. I'm a Southerner. If I couldn't be Southerner,
I'd at least be ashamed. But there is a place I visited several
years ago. It's been nearly 40 years ago
since I was in Appomattox Courthouse. The place where Mr. Lee signed
terms of surrender once was enough to go there. I didn't like it. I didn't like it. But there's
a picture of what transpired on that day. As the Union troops
rode down the road into Appomattox Courthouse, One of the terms
of surrender was that Lee's army stack arms before the troops. And they stood there at attention
with their guns, their rifles, their bayonets, their paddle
horns, their sabers, all laid in a pile before them in surrender. That's what surrender is. And
Jesus Christ will conquer your heart. Calls you to surrender
to him or you will perish in your sins. I Never had a problem
with whether or not I wanted to go to heaven when I die. I
Never had a problem with whether or not I wanted to go to hell
when I die Nobody I know wants to go to hell Everybody wants
to go to heaven and tries to make some preparation for it,
but I did have a problem. I Did have a problem I never
liked anybody telling me what to do. It was a problem of mine for
as far back as I can remember. I have scars to prove that it
was a problem of mine. I didn't like my mother telling
me what to do. I didn't like my daddy telling me what to do.
When I started in school, I didn't like school teachers or principals
telling me what to do. I didn't like law telling me
what to do. I didn't like anybody telling me what to do. And I
did not want to give up my life to the rule of God or anybody
else and would never have done so had the Lord Jesus not sweetly
forced me to his feet, to bow at his feet and surrender to
him. That's what faith in Christ involves. It is believing on the Son of
God as my Lord, bowing to Him, surrendering everything to Him. That's what I'm calling for you
this very hour to do, to give up yourself to Christ, to believe
on the Lord Jesus, is to acknowledge that you're his, lock, stock
and barrel, that you are from this day forward his servant. I'm calling upon you and calling
upon myself of you to devote your life, your entire life,
all your family, all your time, all your talents, all your money,
all your abilities, everything to the service of Jesus Christ.
his kingdom, his glory, trusting him for everything, for everything. This is what we confess in our
baptism. Brother Randall was baptized
here a few weeks ago. I read to you Romans chapter
six. We're buried with him in baptism and we're raised with
him to walk in the newness of life. I never baptized anyone. Never watch someone else being
baptized. But what I don't rehearse in
my own heart, that which I professed in my own baptism when I was
16 years old, I belong to Christ. Lord, I'm yours. Take me, lock,
stock and barrel. Rule me, use me and dispose of
me as you will. Now I ask again, is it really
safe and wise to trust the Lord? You may think, Pastor, all that
sounds great. It seems to be the right thing
to do. But is it practical? Is it reasonable? Surely the
Lord doesn't expect me to totally give myself up to him. Surely
he doesn't expect anyone to trust him absolutely. Well, I can't
tell you that it's physically, mathematically, economically,
or philosophically safe and wise to trust you. I wouldn't attempt
to tell you that. That which is demanded by God
can never be made to fit any human scale or graph. In fact,
I must honestly tell you that in earthly terms, faith in Christ
is the most unreasonable thing in this world. In earthly terms,
most unreasonable thing in this world. It's absolutely foolish
for you to trust a Christ whom you can't see, whom you've never
met. Absolutely foolish in earthly
terms for you to do so. But as Martin Luther once said,
the first thing faith does is knock the brains of reason out.
The first thing faith does is knock the brains of reason out. Reason bows to the Son of God,
or there is no life and there is no faith. Turn to Matthew
chapter 6. Listen to our Savior's word. When He calls for us to believe
God, to trust Him, this is what He says. If the Lord your God,
your Heavenly Father, Watches over and feeds the sparrow Don't
you know he'll watch over and feed you? if he Clothes the lily
of the field Don't you suppose he'll call you? He who has numbered
the very hairs of your head will meet your every need if your
heavenly father Does all these things? He will never fail to
supply your needs trust him Look at verse 31, Matthew 6. Therefore,
in the light of all this, since God feeds the sparrow, watches
over the sparrow, since God clothes the lily, since God's numbered
the hairs of your head, therefore, therefore, take no thought, saying,
what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. That's what the whole world lives
for. That's what all your neighbors live for. That's what your sons
and daughters live for. That's what your mom and dad
live for. What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink?
Where are we going to live? That's all they got on their
minds. What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? Where
are we going to live? What should we wear? After all these things
do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. God knows that I need
a place to sleep. He knows that. He knows I need
some food to keep my body going. He knows I need some clothes
to cover it up. He knows I need some warm clothes
in the wintertime and some warm blankets to wrap myself in. He's
fully aware of that. Your father knows you have needed
these things and your father will take care of it. Your father
will take care of it. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. That is, make this your priority.
Make this the thing you seek after. And all these things shall
be added to you. You won't go hungry, and you
won't go naked, and you won't lack for shelter. Take therefore
no thought for tomorrow. Well, what are we going to do
tomorrow? We've got food for the day, but what are we going
to eat tomorrow? We've got clothes to wear, but man, to wear it
out, where are we going to get something to wear tomorrow? We've
got to sleep tonight, but where are we going to sleep tomorrow?
For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
to the day is the evil thereof. Can we really be expected to
put Christ first in everything? Can that really be expected?
Can you really be expected? to seek His glory, His will,
His kingdom first in everything. But I've married a wife. Seek
the kingdom of God and His righteousness. But I've got, I've got triplets
just been born last week. Seek the kingdom of God and His
righteousness. But I've got a job. Seek the kingdom of God and His
righteousness. Not only is it expected, it's
demanded. I don't suggest, I don't imply,
I don't think, I don't imagine. that this trust is perfect. Far
from it. I know better. Our highest, most
confident faith is so full of unbelief that it would sink us
into the lowest hell were it not washed in the Savior's precious
blood and robed in his righteousness. Faith is never perfect while
we walk in this body of flesh. But true faith, Is that which
trusts the Son of God in all things and for all things? Absolutely. Trust him in all
things and for all things? Absolutely. Such faith compels
the believing soul to surrender to Christ's dominion. Joyce is sitting there. and I've
wept with you and rejoiced with you the last three years. She's
dying. Me too. Me too. And we will leave here at God's
appointed time, in God's appointed way, and we'll surrender gladly. This is God's will. This is God's
will. My problem is I never surrender
until I can't do anything else. I don't mean occasionally. I
never, I never surrender until he fixes it so I can't do anything
else. And thank God he still fixes
it so I can't do anything else. I so trust Christ that I devote
my entire life to him. How can I live in this world?
How can I provide for my family? If I allow nothing to keep me
from worshiping him and serving him and obeying him, what's going
to happen to my business? Is that really safe and wise?
Let's see. Look at Exodus chapter 34. Exodus
34. Lindsay mentioned this this morning
as well in his lesson, three times a year, when God required
every male in Israel above 20 years old to leave his land,
his herds, his fields, his business, his home, everything, three times
a year, and travel to Jerusalem and spend a week worshiping God. I mentioned this, I guess, every
message the last two or three weeks. Their pagan neighbors
watched them, and they're bound to think, I guess they thought
like I would. Those foolish Jews. Those foolish
Jews. We've been watching them now
for 10 years. As they increase their property, increase their
wealth, increase their lands, increase their cattle, every
year, three times a year, They pack up, and they go up to Jerusalem,
and they're gone for at least seven days. At least seven days. We can go and take whatever we
want to. We can go and take whatever we want to. Man, we can rob them
blind. And there's nothing they can
do about it. That would have been so, except for one thing.
Just one thing. Read it with me. Exodus 34, verse
23. Thrice in the year shall all
your being children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Now watch verse 24. For I will
cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders. I'm
going to make these fellows your bitter enemies. The place where
you're going to live, you're going to go in, throw them out
of the land, and I'm going to give their land to you. Oh man,
they're gonna want everything you've got. They're gonna be
watching every move you make. Watch it now. Neither shall any man desire
thy land. That's not what it says. That
is not what it says. Neither shall any man desire
thy land at these three specific times. Watch it. When thou shalt go
up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. They'll be sitting around planning
right up to the day you leave town. I'm going to get him next
week. And then next week, something
come up and they'd see some beautiful gal and they go courting for
a week and forget about your land. I'll fix it. So nobody wants your land while
you're worshiping and serving me. I have often been asked,
and years have gone by before Shelby was able to travel with
me, I'd leave Shelby and Faith out here on the hillside by themselves
over there in Junction City, over in the mountains of West
Virginia. And where we live in West Virginia, they were by themselves. I mean, by themselves. Folks,
don't you worry about them. I never spent one moment being
concerned about what happened to them. I honestly didn't, not
one time. I'd be concerned when I get a
call when I'm sick, be concerned for that, but not one concern
about their safety, their welfare. How come? I was serving God. I was out doing God's business,
doing what God sent me to do. I wasn't concerned about somebody
doing them harm. That wasn't going to happen.
God takes care of his own. Well, that's just not reasonable.
More reasonable than me taking care of them. More reasonable than you taking
care of them. Now, let's look at our text. We have a similar
situation here in Leviticus 25, verse 18. In this passage of the law, the
Lord doesn't require that the children of Israel neglect their
livelihoods for a week, but for a year, every 50th year. During this Sabbath-long year,
they were not allowed to gather crops from the previous year
or sow their field that year. That meant that they had to trust
God, the God they worshipped, the God who gave them the land,
the God who brought them out of Egypt. They had to trust God
whom they served and trust him alone to miraculously provide
them with food for three years. Watch what it says. God required
them to trust him and obey him. And they trusted him and obeyed
him. Is that safe? Let's see. Verse 18. Wherefore,
you shall do my statutes and keep my judgments and do them.
And you shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall
yield her fruit. And you shall eat your fill and
dwell therein in safety. And if ye shall say, What shall
we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor
gather in our increase. Then I will command my blessing
upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit three
years. And you shall sow the eighth
year and eat yet of the old fruit until the ninth year. Until her
fruits come in, you shall eat of the old store. Now here, the
Lord God makes three promises. Three promises telling us, telling
Israel and assuring us as well, that we will lose nothing by
serving him. In fact, rather than losing by
obedience, these people were promised they would gain much.
Look at what the Lord promised. First, he promises their safety. You shall dwell in the land in
safety. You remember the text I read
to you this morning in our scripture reading in Psalm 4? Turn over
there for a moment. Psalm 4. The word safely here in Leviticus
means more than physical safety. It means more than than security. It carries with it the idea of
inward sense of safety, of inward security, of inward confidence,
peace, peace. There had been times in my life
when I had been perfectly safe and I was scared to death. You
can be safe and not be secure. You can be safe and have no peace. But this speaks of safety that
brings with it a sense of security. That's what David experienced
here in Psalm 4, in verse 8. He says, with his enemy surrounding
him, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou,
Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety. The Lord Jesus promises
you shall be both safe and inwardly confident and secure. You will
neither experience evil nor have any fear of evil. Look at verse
19. He promises plenty. You shall
eat to your fill. When we're obedient to our Savior,
obedient to the revealed will of God, We may cheerfully, confidently
trust Him to supply everything we need. In Philippians chapter
4, the Apostle Paul writes to the Philippians. He's just overwhelmed
at their goodness. He said, out of your deep poverty,
you provided for me. You've given me things that I
needed from your great poverty. I can't tell you how humbled
I am by that. I can't tell you how broken I
am before God by that. And then he makes this statement,
but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. You go ahead and make whatever
sacrifices you want to. It'll be all right. God will
take care of you. You go ahead and use whatever
God puts in your hand as you are directed of God to use it
for his people, for his kingdom, for his glory. God will provide
for you. You'll never lose by serving
him. And then in verse 21, he promised that they would not
lack provision during the year in which they neither sowed nor
reaped. He says, I will command my blessing in the sixth year,
and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. so that there
was a standing miracle of providence. At other times, one year brought
forth one year's fruit, one year's harvest, one year's produce.
But on this Sabbath year, as they sold their plants, sold
their crops in the fields in preparation for this Sabbath
year, their yield would last them for three years, for three
years. God said, I'll see to it. You've
got all the corn you need for three years, all the beans you
need for three years, all the potatoes you need for three years.
You see, our Savior still multiplies loaves and fishes for his own. The blessing of God upon our
provision It makes little to go far. God, who gave manna every
day of the week to the children of Israel, gave none on Saturday. Six days a week they gathered
their manna. If they gathered more on Monday than they used
on Monday, it'd breed worms and be useless on Tuesday. Is that
what the book says? Is that what it says? If they
gathered more on Thursday than they could use on Thursday, it'd
be words be useless. But on Friday, every Friday,
they gathered all the manna they needed for Friday and all they
needed for Saturday. And on Saturday is just as fresh
as it was on Friday. Why? God did it. That's why. That's why. Because this was
God's commanded blessing on his provision. All of this is intended
to teach us something, to encourage us to trust our God. He teaches
you and me to obey Him in all things, to put Christ first,
His will, His glory, His kingdom first in everything. Casting
all our care on Him and assures us that nothing is ever lost. by faith in and obedience to
Christ. Them that honor me, I will honor,
is his word. Well, I'll give God what I can,
but I've got to take care of things, you know. I've got to
be reasonable about this. Back in Deuteronomy, what is
it, 18 and 19? We read it earlier today or yesterday. God speaks about the Levites
who were to serve in the tabernacle. Those Levites who were to serve
Aaron and his sons, the priests, they were to minister in the
tabernacle. I take it to be Levites somehow portraying, picturing
men who preach the gospel serving our savior, our great high priest.
They were not allowed to enter the service until they were 20
years old. And they weren't allowed to stay
in the service beyond 50. Well, that means every preacher
ought to start when he's 20 and end when he's 50. No, that's
not what it means. I'll tell you what it does mean, Bobby.
God requires the best. God requires the best. The best
of everything. And faith gives him the best.
The best of everything. God won't take your leftovers.
He won't have it. He won't have it. He won't have
that which is useless. He won't bless that which is
useless. He won't receive that which is useless. You can go
all over this country, and I can almost tell you which land was
donated for church building. I'll guarantee you, nine times
out of ten, I can tell you which land was donated for church building.
Something useless. I used to go preach at a place
in Talcott, West Virginia, and The pulpit backed up to the bend
in a railroad. That railroad track, Merle, was
closer to the pulpit than I am to Bobby right now. And every
time that thing went by, now I can out, I can just about shout
over anything. That thing come by, I just stand
there and wait while they start blowing their whistle and start
rattling the tracks. And 10 minutes later, we start up again, start
the service again. Guess where they got the land? Somebody gave
it to him. I'd be a good place. We give
that man to the Lord. We can't use it for anything
else. It may soothe your conscience,
but God won't have it. God won't have it. He won't take
your leftovers. He won't take what you can't
use for something else. He demands the best. Now, let
me show you five things here very quickly, and I'll be done
first. Understand this obedience. arises
from faith in Christ. In verse 18, God says, do my
statutes. We know and understand from 1
John 3, 23, that we keep his commandments by faith in his
son. Throughout the book of Leviticus, God calls for obedience to that
which is revealed in the book. And it does it on one basis.
It's repeated over and over and over and over again. Look at
verse 55. Unto me, the children of Israel,
are servants. They're my servants, whom I brought
forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord. Why should I be willing to surrender
everything to Him? Because it's His anyhow. Why should I be willing to give
everything to Him? because I belong to Him. You're
not your own. You're bought with a price. Is
that what the book says? You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirits, which are God's. You're not your own. Children of God. Understand that. Understand that. Whatever property
you have, whatever possessions you have, whatever wealth you
have, whatever sons or daughters you have, whatever husband or
wife you have, you're not your own. Christ bought you. You're his by creation. You're
his by redemption. You belong to me. You're my servants. I'm your God. I own you. I own you. And it's right for
me to do with my own what I will. Number two. We must never allow
the cares of this world to keep us from the worship of our God
and obedience to him. The most dangerous thing in this
world to our souls is worldliness. And I don't mean by that dressing
in stylish apparel. and wearing a modern haircut
or wearing modern shoes and driving a modern car, or even going to
the picture show. I'm talking about the love of
this world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the father is not in him. The cares of the world,
the deceitfulness of riches, that's the cares of reasonable,
responsible life in this world. I'll take Lindsay for an example
again. You bought that agency how many
years ago? Nine years ago. You got a lot
of folks that you're responsible for their livelihood. And that's
a right responsibility. It's a burden you chose and a
burden you've got, and it's right that you have it. And it's right
that you take care of it. It's right. But it's not right
to let it interfere with worshiping God. And I've never known the
two of you. Not right to let it interfere
with serving God. Not right to let it interfere with anything
you know God have you to do. Not right. Not right. The cares
of the world have a way of choking out the influence of the word.
Don't let it happen. I have a continual prayer for
my sons and daughters, Doug and Faith, all due grace and will.
It's a prayer I have for you and for your sons and daughters.
I pray that God will not do what he says he does to the reprobate
for their damnation. He says in the book of Ecclesiastes,
he hath set the world in their heart so that no man can find
out the work that God doeth, God maketh from the beginning
to the end. Oh, God. Don't set the world
in their hearts. Don't set the world in my heart.
Don't set the world in the hearts of these people. God, don't do
it. Number three. The Lord God, our
savior. Pledges his providence to protect
and provide for us as we seek to worship and serve and honor
him in this world. Look at verses 18 and 19. Wherefore,
you shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them,
and you shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall
yield her fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein
safely. Verse 21. Then I will command
my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth
fruit for three years. Our Lord Jesus clearly refers
to this in the passage we read earlier, Matthew 6, and again
in Luke chapter 12, where he calls for us to seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness. Our Lord pledges his providence
for our behalf. He promised always to care for
his own. He that spared not his own son.
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Besides, it's God's blessing,
not our industry, skill, or foresight that's the source of our safety
and our provision. The Lord Jesus asked his disciples
on one occasion, Peter said, we've forsaken all that follow
you. What are we going to get out of this? And the Lord said, Lacked
ye anything? Nothing, Lord. Nothing, Lord. We've been following you all
this time, and somehow we've always had plenty to eat, plenty
to wear, place to sleep, well protected, never lacked anything.
So it shall be forever. Number four, we can see from
verse 20, It is the hindrance of fear that more often than not keeps
us from obeying God without hesitation. The Lord preempted their supposition. If you shall say, what shall
we eat the seventh year? That's me. That's me. If I don't do anything, how can
I expect to eat? If I worship God rather than
work today, I might not be able to meet my obligations. If I
worship God rather than spend the evening in frivolity with
my family or friends, what will they think of me? If I give my
money to support the gospel of Christ, how can I wisely and
prudently expect to provide for my family? Brother Ron Wood called
our attention to Ezekiel 34. It was a time when Israel sort
of pretended they were going to keep this thing, and then
they went back and the Lord said, I'm going to punish you for this.
And they had a whining, whipping king in Judah who discovered
quickly that it would have been far wiser, far more safe to obey
God than to have been kept from obedience by his fear of the
Jews and of Babylon's king. Turn over to Ezekiel or Jeremiah
chapter 38. Jeremiah 38. Look at verse 17. God gave Zedekiah, the king of
Judah, a word from God. Now, Jeremiah gave him a word
from God. Verse 17, Jeremiah 38. Then said
Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts,
the God of Israel. If thou wilt assuredly go forth
unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live and
this city shall not be burned with fire and thou shalt live
in thine house. But if thou wilt not go forth
to the king of Babylon's princes, Then shall this city be given
into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire,
and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the
king said to Jeremiah, here's his response. Remember what God
said, you go ahead, and this is what I've got for you now.
You surrender to the Babylonians, and everything's going to be
all right. Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I'm afraid of the Jews. I'm afraid
of the Jews. I'm afraid of the Jews and of
the Calvians, those that have fallen to the Calvians, lest
they deliver me into their hand and they mock me. And then in
the 11th year of his reign, Babylon invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem
because Zedekiah feared man rather than God. Because Zedekiah feared
to obey God. Afraid, Rod, of obeying God? Afraid of doing God's bidding?
Afraid of doing what God says? Look what it says in Jeremiah
39, verse 7. Moreover, he put out Zedekiah's
eyes and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon. And
the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people
with fire and break down the walls of Jerusalem. Now, here's
the fifth thing. And I send you home with this
promise from God. We will never, we will never
impoverish ourselves. We will never suffer any loss. by serving Christ. We will never suffer any loss
by doing God's bidding. Never. You may recall when Brother
Richard was here last and considering the pastoring of the work in
San Diego, I said to him, I would throw caution to the wind. They didn't do it, but I could
just picture David and Teresa and Charlotte and Merle kind
of cringing and saying, Brother Dunn, maybe you shouldn't have
said that. I mean, they just started a family together. They
got a house to take care of, got business to take care of.
And you say, throw caution to the wind, go do God's bidding?
I wouldn't hesitate to tell any of you. In fact, I don't hesitate
to tell any of you. Throw caution to the wind. Oh,
Don Fortner, hear what you say. Throw caution to the wind and
serve God. You will never lack for doing
so. It won't happen. I've been young,
now I'm old. But I'll tell you what I've not
seen. Tell you what I've not seen. I've not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. I spend somewhere between,
I still spend somewhere around six to five hours a week in this
office, maybe a little more than that. And I have folks call just
every little bit and stop by and come in begging for something
to give them some money to buy some groceries or pay a bill
or get them to Aunt Jenny's funeral or something. I have that all
the time, all the time. Let me tell you what I've never
seen. Tell you what, I have never seen, not one time in all my
life, let alone in my pastoral life, what I've never seen. David,
I've never had one man or one woman who worshiped God with
his people in his house come by begging for something. I've never had it happen. I've
never had it happen. Now, they're all religious. But
you start talking to him, well, why don't I go to church here?
Why don't you talk to your pastor? Well, I can't remember his name. I've never seen the righteous
forsaken or his seed-begging bread. And you know what I expect? I expect to leave here having
never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed-begging bread. Remember Walter Groover, almost
80 years old, He took off to Mexico, left a good job at Cameron
Iron Works. I believe he worked at Cameron
Iron Works. He milked in both and went down to Mexico. Where you going, Walter? God's
called me to be a missionary. You ever been down there before?
Well, I visited once. What you going to do when you get down
there? I'm going to preach. Say, Lord, raise up some churches.
How you going to live? I don't know. I don't know. And
he's been down there now. for over 40 years. Over 40 years. And somehow or
another managed to get by all right. Been sustained all those
years. Eats every day. He eats every
day. He lives in a comfortable house. He drives cars just like I do.
Drives trucks just like I do. And his family. Grew up pretty
good. All of them got a good education.
How'd you provide for that? Well, you can't very well do
that and be a missionary in Mexico. But somehow or another, all of
them went to school and got a good education. Every one of them.
How'd they do that? God provides. God provides. Is it really safe and wise to
trust Christ? the safest, wisest thing you
can ever imagine. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. Lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him and He'll direct and guard and make to succeed your path
in all things. Amen.