Let's turn to First Chronicles,
Chapter 12. First Chronicles, Chapter 12. I try, as I preach the gospel,
to address issues of relevance to you and me in this day. I try to actually answer questions
people are asking or ought to be asking. And this is a question
you and I ought to give thoughtful, serious consideration to. What
does our day require of us? The nation of Israel was in a
time of trouble. Saul has just been slain. David
at last has been established by God as king in Israel. But there were a good many in
the nation of Israel who really didn't know what they should
do. They didn't know whether they
should accept David as king or look for a king among the sons
of Saul. And we're told here in 1st Chronicles
12 of some mighty men who came to David. Among those mighty
men, in verse 32, we read about the children of Issachar. And
of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding
of the times to know what Israel ought to do. These men of Issachar
had understanding of the times, and they knew what Israel ought
to do. The heads of them were 200, and
all their brethren were at their commandment. These sons of Issachar,
who had understanding of the times in which they lived, and
knew what Israel ought to do, had all their brethren, that
is all the children of Issachar, at their commandment because
they understood the times and they knew what Israel ought to
do. If you want to go back in this
chapter and look at it carefully, you'll see that among the tribes
of Israel, God sent numerous men to David. The Benjamites,
we're told in verses 1 and 2, were armed with bows and could
use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting
arrows out of the bow. Among the Gadites in verse eight
were men of might, men of war. These mighty men who came to
David at Ziklag were utterly devoted to the king, completely
devoted to David. Look at verse 18. Then the spirit
came upon a Mesa who was chief of the captains, and he said,
Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse, peace,
peace be unto thee, and peace be unto thine helpers for thy
God helpeth thee. Then David received them and
made them captains of the band. In verse 33, For among the sons
of Zebulun there came to David men who were expert in war, who
could keep rank. And we read in verse 33 that
they were not of a double heart. These are David's mighty men
who came to him at Ziklag. Now, I have no question that
these things are written for our learning, for our instruction,
as we seek to serve David's great son, who is David's Lord and
ours, the Lord Jesus Christ. Among these bold and valiant
men stand out in my mind these children of Issachar, who had
understanding of the times and knew what Israel ought to do. And my purpose in bringing this
message is to stir up our hearts so that we may, by the grace
of our God, have some understanding of the times in which we live.
And that we, God's people, God's servants in this day, who are
pledged by faith and dedication to the service of Christ our
King, that we may know what Israel ought to do. Without question,
we live in a world of religion unlike anything that has preceded
it. Men, women, and children are
being converted to some form of religion by the thousands
every day. Every day. All over the world. New churches are started somewhere
every day. I've lost count of how many have
been started in Danville since I came here. New churches started
every day, all over the world. Most of those with which I'm
familiar, most of them, No matter how things may appear on the
outside because of all the tomfoolery that goes on, most of them are
what would be considered conservative, fundamentalist churches. They
would tell you, we believe in the book, the blood and the blessed
hope. Bless God. Most of them are. Most of them would not think
about denying that this book is the word of God. Most would
not think about openly disavowing the eternal deity, the virgin
birth, and the sacrificial atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Most
would not think about denying the resurrection or the Lord's
personal second coming. They believe in the book, the
blood, and the blessed hope. But religion is their business. It's their business. It's the
biggest business in the world. The biggest business in the world.
Our generation is perishing under the demonic hypnosis of modern
religion. Someone said a long time ago,
modern day religion was hatched in hell and the devil set on
the eggs. I'm inclined to agree. The religion
of this age is demonic. It is hellish. I'm talking about
folks across the street and back of us, down the road and up the
road. Religion in our age is demonic. It's hellish. I don't
question the sincerity, the devotion and the zeal of the religious
people all around us, family and friends. I don't question
their sincerity, their devotion. I don't question their loyalty insofar as their religion
is concerned. I don't I don't think of them
as deceiving, corrupt people in the sense that we would normally
use those words. I don't question the fact that
modern religion is emotional or that it reforms the lives
of men and women or that it produces zeal and morality. It does all
of those things. Religion can get a man to quit
drinking and quit cussing and quit running around on his wife.
Religion can get a fellow to give up dope and live sober.
Religion can get a fellow who's been mean as a snake to suddenly
become sweet as an angel. Religion can do all those things.
I don't question any of those things concerning the religious
people among whom we live. The problem is the foundation
on which they built their house. They built their house on a foundation
of sand. And in the day of judgment, their
house of refuge is going to crush them into hell. Did you hear me? They built their
house, their house of refuge on a foundation of sand. And
in the day of judgment, that which they trust to be their
refuge from the wrath of God, will crush them into everlasting
damnation. The religion of our day, I'm
talking specifically now about the preachers. The preachers is deceptive beyond imagination. Religious people, soul winners
and evangelists and preachers and those who follow them, encompass
land and sea and make great sacrifice to get more disciples, to get
more people to join the church, to get more people on the side
of Jesus, to get more people to decide to serve God. And when
they do, they make men and women and children make immortal souls
twofold more the child of hell than they were before. The fact
is this religious age These prophets of deceit, these enemies of the
cross of Christ, corrupt the word of God and make merchandise
of the souls of men. I've told you this in the past. Just recently, the folks in church
meeting, talking about some building construction, and they were asked
what their plans were. They said, we plan to give folks
what they want. Take survey, find out what people
want, we'll give it to them. And they will do it at the cost
of truth and at the cost of men's souls. At the cost of God's glory
without batting an eye. And they're ignorant. This religious
age is ignorant or perverts the very basic issues of the gospel
entirely. You talk to somebody. Talk to
your family, friends. I'm not talking about argue with
them, debate with them, fuss with them. Just ask them, who
is God really? Who is God? And see if what they
say has anything at all to do with what God says he is and
who he says he is in Exodus chapter 33 and 34. Who is God? Ask them what happened in the
garden. What happened when Adam rebelled
against God? Did he get us in a mess? Did he stump his toe? Did he
lose his way? Or was he dead as a result of
sin? What happened in the garden?
What really happened at Calvary? Well, the Don just read in the
back John's account of our Lord's crucifixion. What happened there? What happened there? When Jesus
Christ died at Calvary, what really happened? Ask somebody
to tell you. Ask somebody to tell you. And
weep as you listen to the answers. Let me tell you what happened. God's darling son, the last Adam,
undead for somebody, all the evil brought upon the human race
by the first Adam and his transgression. God's darling son made sin for
us, made a curse for us, endured all the hell of God's wrath for
us. As Ruth said just a little bit
ago, with one tremendous draft of love, he drank damnation dry
for somebody. At last, he cried, it is finished.
And when he did, he had accomplished our redemption. He didn't make
it possible. He didn't provide an opportunity
for it. He didn't make it so that you could come along and
decide to be redeemed. He redeemed somebody. He put
away somebody's sins. He satisfied the justice of God
for his people. How is it actually that God saves
sinners? Just ask somebody. Next time
you talk to your son, your daughter, or your grandchildren who have
been ducked in the water and sloshed around a little bit and
made a profession of faith. Next time you talk to them, ask them,
how is it that God saved sinners? And see if they tell you anything
about justice being satisfied, righteousness being maintained,
sin being put away. Ask them. Ask them. I dare you, ask them. Ask them. This religious generation doesn't
have a clue who God is, what happened in the garden, what
happened at Calvary, or how God saves sinners. You know why? Because they'd been lied to by
a fellow standing right where I'm standing now. They'd been
lied to by them. Lied to by them because the fellow
preaching to them. thinks more of his career and
his position and his power and his influence and his opportunities
to show himself before men than he does of the souls to whom
he preaches. Now, either that's so or it's not, and you can take
your pick. One of the two, one of the two.
Well, what about all the people in these churches? These Armenian
churches where The works of the flesh and free will are made
the basis of salvation. People ask me all the time, well,
do you believe all these people are saved? I had a fellow just
recently in England, he said, well, if what you're saying is
so, then all these people in these churches are lost. And
my response is, what I've told you is so. And they're lost. Yes, they're lost. They're lost. How can you say that? You're
so judgmental. Nobody thinks that if you say
it about a Buddhist. Nobody thinks that if you say
it about a papist. Oh, yeah, you can't. You just can't say
that about people. There is but one gospel. There is but one gospel. It is the gospel of God's free,
sovereign, saving grace in Jesus Christ. And God only saves sinners
by the hearing of the gospel. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. Brother Don, if that's the case,
then my whole family has been deluded
and lost. I know. Oh my God, I know. I know. I know. My friend, Brother Sid Buggins,
made this statement a couple of years ago when I was about
to leave him at the airport in England. He said, it's the mystery
of godliness that God made himself a man. It's the mystery of iniquity
that man makes himself God. That's the difference. Right
there says Bobby Estes. His situation, much like most
of you, raised in religious freewillism,
raised in a religion wherein you were convinced that really
you had power over God. Am I stretching it at all? Is
that how you were raised? so that you decide whether or
not you get saved. You decide whether or not God
saves you. You, by your mighty omnipotent
will, hold God Almighty in subjection under you. That means that man
is worshipped as God and God is put beneath the feet of man.
If that's not idolatry, I don't know what idolatry is. If that's
not paganism, I don't know what paganism is. Well, that's clear
enough. Good. I hope it is. Does God
use these things? God in his providence uses everything
for the saving of his people. God in his providence uses everything,
even the fall of Satan and the fall of Adam for the saving of
his people. But that doesn't mean we approve
of Satan's rebellion, of Adam's rebellion, or the rebellion of
this religious age. The fact is salvation is in Christ
alone and by Christ alone. Not Christ and the church. Not Christ in the lodge. Not
Christ in the creed. Not Christ in your decision.
Not Christ in your works. Not Christ in baptism. Not Christ
in the Lord's table. Not Christ in the sacraments.
Not Christ in your confession of faith. Not Christ in your
emotions. Christ alone! If salvation is
by grace, then works don't have anything to do with it. Otherwise,
grace is no more grace and work is no more works. Paul wrote
to the Galatians and he said, uh, if you be circumcised, Larry
Brown, if you do anything, if you do anything, anything to
give yourself a good standing with God. or to make your standing
with God better, to improve your relationship with God. Somehow,
it depends on something you do, that this is what Christ means
to you. Nothing. Read it for yourself, Galatians
chapter 5, verses 1, 2, 3, and 4. If you be circumcised, Christ
shall profit you nothing. Nothing. Paul wrote to those
Galatians, and he said, I marvel that you're so soon removed from
him that called you unto another gospel, which is not another. He said, though we are an angel
from heaven, come and preach any other gospel unto you than
that which you have received. Let him be damned. Let him be
accursed. There's but one gospel. It is
the gospel of God's grace. I'm gravely concerned for the
generation which we're living. It's been thrown a curve. And
they followed the curve, hook, line, and sinker to the ruin
of their own souls. Turn to 1 Corinthians, I'm sorry,
2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul was concerned about this
in his day. You remember John said many antichrists are going
out into the world. It had already happened. and
it's getting worse by the hour. Second Corinthians chapter 11
verse two. I'm jealous over you with a godly jealousy for I've
espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ. But I'm afraid I fear I fear
less by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety
So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. That word simplicity is singleness. From the singleness, the straight
forward, plain singularity that's in Christ Jesus. Read on. For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, there is another Jesus. There is another Jesus,
Bob. You trusted him all your life.
You served him all your life. He tries to save but can't. He
died to redeem but didn't redeem anybody. Is that the Jesus you
served? There is another Jesus. Preach
any other Jesus unto you whom we have not preached unto you.
Or if you receive another spirit, a spirit that's a good influence
and pretty please begs you to maybe accept the Lord Jesus,
which you have not received. another gospel which you have
not accepted you might well bear with and the notice the word
hymns and italics it'd be better translated bear with me or perhaps
Paul is seeking start speaking sarcastically and say you put
up with him look at verse 10 as the truth of Christ is in
me no man shall stop me of this boasting as in the regions of
Achaia wherefore Because I love you not. Am I speaking this because
I'm some kind of a grumpy, mean old man? God knows. God knows. God knows. Am I talking to you
because I love you or because I've got another ax to grind?
Am I preaching as I do because I'm concerned for your soul and
God's glory? or because I've got another interest.
God knows. God knows. But what I do, that
I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire
occasion, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
For such are false apostles, false messengers, deceitful workers,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And don't be surprised by this,
no marvel, no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. These fellows come and they teach
folks to live righteously and godly and soberly. They teach
you to quit drinking and smoking and chewing and cussing and they
teach you to be a good husband, a good wife, good father, teach
you to be obedient children, transform themselves as Satan
transformed himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing
if his ministers be transformed into the ministers of righteousness. Of righteousness. Go to any Baptist
church you want to in Danville, Kentucky tonight, where they
still have services on Sunday night. Go to any of them. Any
of them. I wish that every member of every
Baptist church in the city would hear this message, especially
their pastors. Go to any of them and they will
teach people about righteousness. They all do. They all do. But what's wrong with that? Bill,
they're going to teach you about your righteousness. That's what
they teach. That's all they teach. That's
all the righteousness they know. They know nothing of the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. They know nothing of righteousness
outside you, of righteousness performed for you, of righteousness
wrought in you, of righteousness given to you by the grace of
God. Know nothing of it. But bless God, these days of
great tribulation shall be shortened for the elect's sake, and it
is not possible that Christ's sheep shall be deceived by it.
We have that great consolation in the midst of these things.
But what does this day require of us? The world has never known such
perilous times. Surely this day demands something
unique from you and me. It demands men and women of courage,
boldness, and what men might consider extreme dedication to
the gospel of Christ. One of our hymns has a line that
goes like this, dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to
have a purpose true, dare to make it known. What does this
day require of us? Let me make five statements and
I'll be very brief. This day requires from you and
me a unflinching, uncompromising adherence
to the authority of this book, of this congregation, of this
preacher. of those men who go out from
this place and preach elsewhere. It requires of us an unflinching
adherence to the authority of this book. This alone is what
we believe. This alone. I had people ask
me all the time. I get letters real regular about
our confession of faith, our creed. And sometimes, folks,
will ignorantly say, well, y'all don't have creed because you're
afraid to let people know what you believe. Obviously, they didn't hear me
preach this morning or tonight or Tuesday night. Not afraid
for anybody to know what I believe. No, no one never had been not
a bachelor about that. Why don't you have a confession
of faith for this reason? And I guarantee you this. So
now I've been doing this a little while. I've been preaching for
43 years. Just as soon as you adopt a confession
of faith, no matter how well written, this book goes here
and the confession goes here. Just as soon as you adopt it,
you'll compromise the word of God to defend your creed. So
that ought not be, it ought not be, name me any circumstance
in history where it can't be proved. Any circumstance in history,
as soon as men adopt a confession of faith, they make the word
of God subject to their confession. We dare not do so. What God says,
we believe. What God says, we willingly bow
to. We embrace. This is our only
rule of faith. That is, we believe only what
is written in the book of God. This is our only rule of practice. We practice as a congregation.
Only those ordinances prescribed in this book exactly as they're
prescribed in this book. No, we will not be sloshing water
on babies' faces. No, we will not be having grape
juice and soda crackers for the Lord's Supper. No, we will not
involve ourselves in the religious tomfoolery and entertainment
of this age. What do y'all do down there?
We meet and worship God. We pray, we read the word, we
preach, and then we pray some more and read the word and preach. And we come together again and
pray some more and read the word and preach. Why? I want to hear
God speak, don't you? I want to know God and his truth. That's all. That's all. Well,
that's sure out of sync with the rest of the world. That's
on purpose. That's not by accident. That's
on purpose. We're not on the outside looking
in. We're on the outside because we want to stay on the outside.
We want to stay there. Here's the second thing. We must
in this day meet this requirement. It is
a day that demands that we have distinct Decided views of gospel
doctrine look at 1st Timothy. I'm sorry 2nd Timothy chapter
1 2nd Timothy 1 Paul is urging Timothy in his
last epistle not to be ashamed of the gospel and that is going
to tell us that which is at the very heart of the gospel and
That was at the heart of the gospel. I'll tell you what I'll
do. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'm
not a rich man and I'm not a gambler. I'll tell you what I'll do. You
call every preacher in Boyle County, call every one of them
this week and find me one who preached from second Timothy
one verse nine. Anytime in the last 10 years, find me one. I'll give you $50 for everyone.
Give you an assignment. Just call him up. Find me one
who did so. Here Paul is going to the very
heart of the gospel. God hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling and our works don't have anything to
do with it. Not according to our works. But according to,
that is, he hath saved us and hath called us according to his
own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. What's he talking about? The
gospel. What's he talking about? How God works. What's he talking
about? How God saves sinners. What's
he talking about? The grace of God. Read on. But
is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. Well, brother Don, that looks
like when God saves somebody, He just causes them to get in
on and to experience and come to know what he had already done. Isn't that how it looks? Isn't
that exactly how it looks? You know why it looks that way?
Because that's the way it is. When a man say, Bill Rutter,
God brought to light in your soul what he did for you in eternity
when he gave you faith in Christ. He did it by the gospel. Read
on. Whereunto I'm appointed a preacher, that is God appointed me to preach
this message, and an apostle, a messenger, and a teacher of
the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Hold
fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me in
faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. We live in a day when
people are like a man who's colorblind. They can't see anything distinctly.
Most people you talk to presume that everybody's right and nobody's
wrong. Every preacher is sound and none of them are unsound,
and everybody is saved and going to heaven, nobody is going to
be lost. The only exceptions to that, the only exceptions
to that are the folks who believe and preach the gospel of God's
grace that you hear in this place every week. The only preacher
in this town that is considered by the religious world around
us a dead, sure, reprobate, and a damned man is the one talking
to you. Just ask them. Just ask them. The only people for sure going
to hell are folks who believe exactly what we do. Anything
else goes. Anything else is all right. I've
told you many times when Brother Todd Nybert was in school over
at Lexington, he was in a comparative religions class and they were
studying the Reformation. And for some reason, Todd got
talking about me. He said, our pastor is very knowledgeable
in Reformation history. And the professor said, would
he come over and give us a lecture on Martin Luther? And Todd said,
I believe he would. He came to talk to me. I said,
Todd, you don't want to be over there. Oh, but Brother Todd. Now remember, he was just a college
kid, thinking like a rosy-eyed college kid. He said, the professor
is very open-minded. I said, Todd, he's open-minded
to everything but truth. Now, you can get up and talk
about how cold it is in hell if you want to, and that'd be
all right. Or you can talk about how black it is in heaven, that'd
be all right. You can talk about the Pope being Pope and Jesus
Christ being a moral reformer, and that'd be all right. And
you can talk about some man being God, that'd be all right. But
he's not open to this. Oh, I believe you're wrong. I
said, Todd, I'll go, but I promise you it's not going to be pleasant.
So I went over and gave a lecture on Martin Luther's theology,
its strengths and its weaknesses. And I deliberately took up all
the class time I could without taking it all. Had about five
minutes. And the professor said, now you told us what Martin Luther
believed. What do you believe? I said, I believe just what both
Martin Luther did. And he stormed out of the class.
And folks, I mean, they got angry. Folks balling up the fist. I'm
talking, I was a young, strong fellow. They really took me on.
And Todd's sitting like this. He was just astounded. He couldn't
believe it. I said, I told you. I told you this gospel of God's
grace is the only message in the world out of sync with the
religious world. The only message there is the
only one. Paul spoke to Felix and he said
in Acts chapter 24, after the way which they call heresy, so worship
I the God of my fathers, and so it is with me." Line them
up. Bring them, everyone. And when
I have folks want to raise sand and make accusations and throw
charges and try to get you involved in a scuffle about your doctrine,
this is what I say to them. I've said it to many preachers.
I say it publicly, and I say it privately. I'll meet you at
the bar of God, and we'll find out soon who's telling the truth. Are you that sure? Don Renner,
if I wasn't that sure of it, I wouldn't preach it. If I wasn't
absolutely certain what I'm saying, I wouldn't be standing here saying
it. I have more respect for God, for you, and for this book, than
to stand up here and give you opinions and speculations. What
does our day require of us? It requires, it demands faithfulness and dedication
to the cause of Christ and his gospel in this day. It requires
extremity, dogmatism and dedication, dedication to God's truth to
his word, to the furtherance of the gospel in our day. It
demands, fourthly, that we clearly recognize and execute accordingly
our most important priorities, our most weighty responsibilities. I said to the preachers yesterday,
and what I'm saying here goes 50 times more for every preacher,
but it's applicable to you. There are matters far more important
than our personal cares and comforts and desires. My grandson, you may have heard
me mention this a time or two, he's a good athlete. Do you know
what I do? Every Friday evening and every
Saturday morning, if I weren't committed to preaching the gospel
of God's grace, I'd be over there watching that boy play ball.
And I'm quite sure, Merle, he doesn't have any appreciation
for why I can't be there. And if he never does, that's
still all right. There's something more important.
Something more important than being home with my wife tonight
while she's sick and feeling so rotten. Something more important. The worship of God, the gospel
of God's grace, and the ministry of the gospel is more important. More important. I called a young
fellow who likes to preach and want to preach occasionally a
while back and ask him to go somewhere and preach. I'd like
to, said, I'll do it another time, but I don't want to miss
my son's birthday. And I responded this way, I said,
I understand. I understand. And I do understand. I really do. And I didn't say
it to him, but he'll probably hear this. I'll never call again. It'll never happen again. No,
if that's your priorities, keep it. Keep it. You can't preach
the gospel ever. Anywhere. You can only pretend
if your boy's birthday comes before that, or your wife's birthday,
or your anniversary, or Christmas, or Easter, or ball game, or any
other of the stuff for which men labor. Our day demands of
us utter dedication to the cause of our Redeemer. of us as a congregation. God has given us, in his infinite
goodness, open doors of ministry around the world. Rex, for some
reason, beyond any explanation, God's given this congregation
a voice of influence in his kingdom, and we're responsible for it.
We're responsible for it. Responsible to be faithful. responsible for that work which
God has put in our hands. God make us faithful. Something
else this day requires of us is personal, diligent watchfulness. As you care for your souls, I
urge you to do these things. Avail yourself of every opportunity
to hear the gospel. Addict yourself to the ministry
of the word Don't let yourself be comfort comfortable Absenting
yourself from the worship of God. I said Derek the other night
going out. He's getting ready to go to school
When you find your job God puts you in a place of employment.
Don't accept work where you can't worship God I'd make $100,000
more for moving 100 miles away. I believe I'd do without it I
don't believe I do without it. I know I do without it. I know
I would cause nothing more important than your soul and the worship
of God. Nothing. Read and study this
book for yourself. Get time alone with God and ask
him to teach you by his word. Call upon the God of all grace
to illuminate the pages of this book in your soul. and to teach
you the things of Christ. Do all that you can to keep your
soul in communion with God. All that you can to live in communion
with Him who loved you and gave Himself for you. Do you have
wisdom to understand the times in which we live? Do you know
what Israel ought to do? You and I live in times of peculiar
danger. Make your calling and election
sure. Cast your soul on the Son of God. Highly esteem those who
preach the gospel of God's grace for their work's sake. Pray for
them. Do what you can to further the
preaching of the gospel. Pray that God will send forth
laborers into his field. And you men, young and old, who
know God, be ready at a moment's notice to give yourself and your
life entirely to the preaching of the gospel. Ready at a moment's
notice. Well, I've got this. I hear people talk about what
they gave up to serve the Lord. Oh, Lindsey Campbell. I've lost nothing and gained
everything. Lost nothing and gained everything. Oh, at a moment's notice, what
an honor. What an honor that God should
allow me. to preach in this day of darkness
the unsearchable riches of Christ, the light of everlasting life
in his son. Now turn back to our text. Let me show you what happened
in Israel when God raised up these mighty men. Look at verse
38. First Chronicles 12, 38. All
these men of war that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart
to Hebron to make David king over all Israel, to lift up David
the king. And all the rest also of Israel
were of one heart to make David the king. Something remarkable
happens when God raises up faithful men to serve his interest. These
fellows of one heart leading his people. All Israel is one
heart. All the divisions go. All the
strife go. We got one cause, one purpose. Read on. Moreover, they that
were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali brought
bread and and bread on asses, and on camels,
and on mules, and on oxen, and meats, meal, meal cakes of figs,
and bundles of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep
abundantly. For there was joy in Israel. Joy in Israel. Joy in Israel
because God raised up men in the day of understanding, who
understood the times in which they lived. Men who knew what
Israel ought to do and did it for his glory. Oh, God give us
such men. God make me such a man for Christ's
sake. Amen.