Brother Todd Neibert's sister,
Sherry, is here this morning. She and her husband, Jim. Twenty-five, maybe 26 years ago,
I was getting dressed to leave to Cherokee, North Carolina for
a Bible conference where I preached every year for as long as Brother
Tim James and the congregation there had them. And I got a call
on Monday morning, early. He said, Brother Todd's in the
hospital and his vital signs are dropping rapidly. He wants
to see you. And if you want to see him, you
better come now because he won't be here much longer. It turned
out the Lord intervened and Brother Todd's healthy and doing fine.
But we drove over to Lexington. and spent the day there as long
as we could and still get down to Cherokee. I don't think I'll
ever forget the first thing that greeted me when I walked in the
room. Lynn was sitting on the side of the bed with Todd and
she looked up at me and said, what will Aubrey and I do? What
will we do without Todd? About 10 years ago, maybe 12,
Preaching in North Carolina, a friend of mine had just been
diagnosed with a severe case of melanoma. Doctors gave him
just a few weeks, a few months at most to live. Again, God intervened. He's still very healthy. He's
a little older than I am. But I walked in a church building
about the size of this one, maybe a little bit bigger. His wife
and I were the only ones in the building. And she rushed up to
me and she said, Brother Don, what will I do? What will I do? And then just a few weeks ago,
as many of you know, Brother Tommy Robbins was diagnosed with
cancer, spread all over his body. The doctors said then he has
a few days at most to live, maybe a couple of weeks. They now think
maybe he might survive to Thanksgiving. So I called and spoke to Robin. Her first words, What will I
do? I've got a message for you this
morning. I've titled the message, Relief for Troubled Hearts. Actually, when I was preparing
this message, I had titled it, A Cure for Troubled Hearts. And
I realized immediately, that's not going to happen. There's
no cure for troubled hearts, not in this world. just relief. Faith in Christ doesn't cure
the trouble. It just relieves the pain and
the trouble. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also."
Will you turn to that passage in John 14? And let's look at
three things in this passage together. Our Lord speaks here
to his disciples. He speaks to you and me, his
disciples, about heart trouble. And he speaks to you and me,
his disciples, about our heavenly home. And he speaks to you and
me, his disciples, about a good hope. of good things to come. These three verses so rich in
gospel truth for more than 2,000 years have been peculiarly distinctly
blessed to God's people in times of trouble. How many hospital
rooms so dark with gloom they've brightened. How many hearts so
heavy with trouble they've relieved. How many bereaved men and women
so heavy with loss they've comforted. How many dying saints, faced
with the prospect of immediate eternity, they have sustained. Our Lord Jesus speaks in this
passage distinctly to his disciples at the time that he was about
to leave them and go back to glory after ministering to them,
teaching them, instructing them, walking with them, comforting
them, sustaining them, upholding them, delivering them for three
and a half years, now he's about to leave them. And he says, you
can't go with me. And their hearts are full of
trouble. May God, the Holy Spirit, write the lessons he intends
on our hearts. First, we have a very, very precious
relief for a very, very old problem. The problem is heart trouble.
The relief is faith in Christ. What will we do? What will we
do? We'll do just what we've been
doing. We'll trust our Redeemer. We'll trust our Savior. Heart
trouble is the most common thing in the world. No rank, no class,
no condition is exempt from it. No bars, no bolts, no locks can
keep it out. Part trouble comes partly from
inward things and partly from outward things. Partly from things
that are of the body and partly from things of the mind. Partly
from things that we love and partly from things we fear. Partly
from things we cherish and partly from things we despise. The journey
of life is full of trouble. Full of trouble. I recall Brother
Scott Richardson one time making a statement. We were preaching
together. He said, life in this world. Matter of fact, we were
preaching right here. He said, life in this world ain't much. It begins with a slap on the
bottom and ends with a shovel full of dirt in your face and
everything in between is bumps and bruises. And that's a pretty
good description. Don't expect any better. This
life is full of trouble. God's saints, like other men,
have bitter cups. They must drink. And what makes
our cup more bitter than that of others is that we know our
Heavenly Father mixes the cup. Sometimes, he gives us some understanding
as to why he gives the trouble. Usually, he doesn't. Usually, at the time, we have
no apprehension at all as to why the difficulty, the heartache,
the heaviness has come upon us. I just talked to a very dear
pastor friend. I don't know how I can endure
things he's endured. I don't know how to take it.
I just don't know how. But God sustains it. Why at this
time in this man's life? These overwhelming heartaches. Why? Not one, not two, one on
top of the other. Why? I don't know. He doesn't
know. Don't have an answer. Can't begin
to explain. I don't have a clue. But God
mixes the cup, our heavenly father. And he does so because he loves
us. And he calls for us to do nothing
but trust him as we drink the cup. All of Zion's pilgrims pass
through waters of trouble, rivers of pain, fires of adversity. It is written we must, through
much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. There are
Philistines without and Canaanites within, all bent on the destruction
of our souls. Sooner or later, we must, like
pilgrim in pilgrim's progress, face giant despair. Sooner or
later, you and I will have our time in Doubting Castle. Sooner
or later, we will be locked up in the Dungeon of Darkness. And
sooner or later, we must be sifted as wheat. Sooner or later. Our Lord had just told Peter,
Satan desired to have him, that he may sift him as wheat. His
last word in chapter 13, he tells Peter before the cock crows tomorrow
morning twice, you're going to deny me three times. How would
you recommend preparing a preacher? How would you go about doing
that? Let's send him to seminary. Let's get him a degree. Let's
teach him theology. I talked to you last night about
getting the pastor's hip pocket, listen and learn, read and study. Well, the Lord Jesus has a man
he's going to prepare to preach like few men, like few men. Peter, I'm going
to put you in the sieve. The sieve is mine, and I'm going
to use Satan to sift you. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. And when he got done with him,
Peter's ready to preach what we read in Acts chapter 2. Not
until then, not until then. When we read John 14, we should
always consciously remember that our Lord begins the message in
John 13, and it is the same message, the same discourse with interchange
with his disciples all the way through chapter 16, and concludes
with his great high priestly prayer in chapter 17. So I urge
you, when you read this passage, go home today. You'll have time.
Take time. Read John 13 through John 17
at one setting. And understand that this is one
message to our Lord's disciples by our master. Our Lord's continuing
this discourse that he began after washing his disciples'
feet. After the scene has changed a
little bit, Judas leaves the master. He's gone out to betray
him. There may have been a slight
pause. Probably was. The Lord had told the disciples,
now, one of you is going to betray me. And they all said, Lord,
is it I? All except Judas. All except
Judas. And then to cover his hypocrisy,
And he said, Master, is it I? And the Lord Jesus identified
him plainly. And he said to them all, said,
the one that dips the sock with me, that's the betrayer. And
he handed the cup to Judas. Judas dipped the sock and he
went out to betray the master. This is after the Lord washed
his feet. This is after the Lord established the Lord's Supper.
You mean he gave the bread and wine to Judas? He sure did. He
sure did. Boy, that throws a monkey wrench
in the whole works, doesn't it? He sure did. He sure did. And Judas goes out to betray
him. And the master perhaps looked at Judas and paused as if to
say, now, don't let this shake you. Don't let this disturb anything. This, too, is according to my
will. This, too, is according to God's
purpose. This, too, is necessary for your
good and God's glory. And then he goes right on and
says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He turns to these disciples of
his. And his object throughout this
passage and the following two chapters is to comfort, establish,
and build up the downcast hearts of troubled disciples. Our Savior
saw that these disciples were just turned upside down. Their world was just flat turned
upside down. They had seen him, their master,
whom they loved so dearly, troubled in spirit. They heard him say,
now is my soul exceeding sorrowful even unto death. They'd never
heard such words from his mouth. They'd never observed such a
thing. Their carnal Jewish expectations of a temporal kingdom under a
temporal messiah, they retained those right up to the very end.
They were still expecting. that the Lord Jesus was going
to sit on a throne over in Palestine and make the Jews head over everybody.
They were still expecting that like many fools do today. They
were still anticipating that he was interested in a little
peanut throne over on a Jewish territory. And now it's all shattered. It's just shattered. He shattered
that illusion that they had. The Lord Jesus told them that
one would betray them. They'd all watched Judas get
up and leave the room. And then he announced that he'd
be with them just a little while longer. And where he was going,
they could not follow. And the Lord Jesus told Peter
that he would deny him. Look at verse 38 of chapter 13.
Read it for yourself. He said, before sunrise tomorrow,
Peter, you're going to deny me three times. The cock shall not
crow till thou hast denied me thrice. Now read it without the break.
Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me." For all these reasons, this band
of disciples was troubled. I would have been. I would have
been. David ain't forsaken all the
polytheists. When the Lord called them, they didn't just lay their
nets aside, they cast them aside. They quit their business and
followed Him. They left family and friends
and followed Him. They sold all and followed Him.
They had forsaken all and now it seems that everything is shattered. They were disquieted, fearful,
troubled. The Master saw it. and proceeded
to give them this sweet cordial of his grace. Let not your heart
be troubled. Somewhere, if you're taking notes,
and I always encourage you to take notes, make note of the
fact that our Lord uses the singular, heart, not the plural, hearts,
as though he's talking to one person. He's talking to one person, you.
He's talking to one person, you. He's talking specifically to
this man, Peter. He's saying, Peter, I've told
you what you will do. I've told you so that you will
know what you are. I've told you that you will deny
me. Not me, Lord. Not me. John, maybe. John, maybe. James, he might. Not me. Not me. This is the same
Peter, remember, who before he denied the Master just a few
hours earlier, takes on a whole Roman garrison with a fisherman's
knife. Same man. I can hear his thoughts. Not me. They'll all be in forsake. I won't, Lord. And he's telling
Peter, Peter, there's nothing you won't do if I don't prevent
it. Bo, there's nothing you won't
do if he doesn't stop you, nothing. Even now, after walking in his
grace all these years, nothing. Don Fortner, there's nothing
you won't do if he doesn't stop you, nothing. And when you've done your worst, if you're mine, he says, let
not your heart be troubled. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. You can't half get hold of that,
can you? Nothing's changed. Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
You mean Peter's denying the Lord? And Peter's taking on Roman
Garrison with a fishing knife. Those two things don't make any
difference in his relationship with God? Of course not. Of course
not. My relationship with God is not
determined by what I do. Be it good or bad, it's not determined
by what I do. Our relationship with God Almighty
is in his son, and only in his son. And sooner or later, you're
going to learn that. Sooner or later, you're going
to learn that. Before the cock crows tomorrow,
you're going to deny me three times. Before the cock crows
twice. Now, let's watch Peter. He's there warming his hands
by the fire in the judgment hall. And a little girl comes up to
him and says, I know you. You're one of those Galileans.
You were with him. Oh, I don't know. I don't know
him. I don't know him. And he comes up a second time. Your speech betrays you. You're one of his followers.
I don't know him. And he heard that rooster crow.
Can you imagine how terrified he must have been? Can you imagine how shocked he
must have been? What have I done? And the girl comes up a third
time. And pastor, he couldn't stop
himself. Couldn't stop himself. Couldn't
stop. Why? Because he's just flesh. He's just flesh like you and
me. And that downward spiral cannot
be prevented, except grace uphold you. And you will not be stopped,
except grace stop you. We're in his hands. And when
we've fallen at our worst, the master still says, let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. One of my favorite texts is Mark
16, verse 7. The Lord's vision from the dead
and the two women in His tomb talking to an angel there. And
the angel said, go tell His disciples that He'll meet them in Galilee
just like He said He would. And I can almost picture Him
starting to run to tell the disciples, wait! Be sure you tell Peter. Be sure you tell Peter. I'll
meet him in Galilee just like I said I would." Nothing has
changed. And the Lord Jesus went to Peter.
And he said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He said, yea, Lord, thou knowest
that I love thee. Feed my sheep. He said a second time, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Yea, Lord, thou knowest that
I love thee. Feed my lambs. He said to him
the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, do you really love me? The words changed. The words
changed. First two times he used a very
common word for love. It's the word that's used in
1 Corinthians 13, it's translated charity. This time he uses a
much stronger word. He uses the strongest word found
in scripture for love. It's the word from which we got
our word Philadelphia. Speaking of brotherly love, that
bond of brothers. He said, now Simon, do you really
love me? And Peter was grieved because
he said to him the third time, do you really love me? And listen
to his answer. Lord, thou knowest all things. Oh, sweet consolation for my
soul. Lord, you know what my wife can't
possibly know. You know what these men who've
seen me and heard me deny you know. You know that really there's
no difference between me and Judas. except the difference
your grace has made. And you know that down here inside
me is a man that really does love you, in spite of everything
that appears to the contrary. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me." He's saying to all of
his disciples collectively, As one body, let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He's saying to you and me, one
body in Christ, his chosen, his bride, his church, let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. The fact is the only relief for
any trouble you have. The only real relief for any
trouble you have is to believe God. Now, you can go to the doctor
and get you some pills, but they'll wear off. You can go to one of
these shrinks and he can get you to blame it on somebody else
for a while and that'll soothe your conscience for a while,
but that'll wear off. That'll wear off. The only real
relief for heart trouble is faith in Christ. To believe more thoroughly,
to trust more entirely, to rest more unreservedly, to lay hold
more firmly, to lean back more completely in his omnipotent
arms of mercy. That's the prescription he gives.
And that's where he draws our attention. No doubt this little
band around our Lord's table were believers already. There's
no question about that. Judas was gone. These were all
believers. These were men who had forsaken
all and followed Him for three and a half years. They had proved
themselves loyal and faithful. And yet the Lord Jesus once more
presses on them and us the much-needed lesson, Believe Me. Trust Me. Lean on me. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Those words have caused a good bit of confusion,
but it's needless. Some will jump on that and say,
you see there, God and Christ are not the same. To believe
in God's one thing, to believe in Christ is another thing. That's
not the case. There is no faith in God apart
from faith in Christ. Abel, Enoch, and Abraham, Moses,
and David all alike believed God, as did all the Old Testament
saints, and believed Christ, as did all the Old Testament
saints. So why did the master use these words when he speaks
to his disciples, when he speaks to you and me? He says, believe
in God, believe also in me. The words might be read as a
double imperative so that the Lord is giving a command. Believe, believe, believe God. Believe, believe, believe me.
The words might be read as a double indicative saying you do believe
in God. You do believe in me. Let not
your heart be troubled. You do believe. See if I can
illustrate it. He's saying, you believe God,
now act like it. Act like it. Rejoice in the Lord
always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your
moderation be known to all men, the Lord's at hand. That word
moderation is only found one other time in all the Bible.
In 1 Corinthians 10, it's translated this way. Gentleness. It's called
the gentleness of Christ, the moderation of Christ. Our Lord
in the midst of all the things he endured in this world walked
before men undisturbed by them. Unruffled. Unruff. It didn't matter who the religious
leaders were. It didn't matter who the political
leaders were. It didn't matter what the economy was like. It
didn't matter what trouble came from his family. His family said,
he's insane. Y'all don't pay any attention
to him. His own kinsmen said, he's insane.
He's lost his mind. Y'all don't pay any attention
to him. He's unruffled. You believe in God, let your
calm Ease and moderation be known to all men. Rejoice in the Lord. Always. Again, I say rejoice
in the midst of trouble. You be calm now. The Lord's at
hand. Our daughter got married 15 years
ago. Is that right? 15 years? The morning of her
wedding, she and her mama had done all the planning. You know,
I was just there for the ride. And they'd gotten all the stuff
worked out. Had a big wedding, about more
than 500 people there, just a whole slew of folks. And we had flowers
arranged and all the stuff arranged. And the lady who's supposed to
bring those flowers that were rather expensive flowers, 15,
20 minutes before the wedding was supposed to start, wasn't
there. A few minutes went on, she wasn't there. And my daughter
began to get in a tizzy. And she started to cry. like
a baby who was fixing to bury his mama, as women want to do
at such times. And I took her aside, wrapped
my arms around her, and I leaned over so nobody would hear but
me and her. I said, now, honey, I've raised you better than this.
We don't act like this over flowers. Dry up. And she did. She did. And it turned out just
fine. It turned out just fine. Children of God, the Master says,
you believe God, act like it. You believe me, act like it.
Stop troubling yourselves. Stop being anxious. Stop being disturbed. Stop making
yourselves anxious. Stop disturbing yourselves. Still, we should never forget
that between faith in Christ and what we might call strong
faith in Christ, there's a great gulf. There are fathers in Israel, and there
are husbands in Israel, and there are young men in Israel. There
are those who are strong and those who are weak. And those
who are the strongest will soon prove themselves very weak. And when you prove yourself very
weak, then you're strong. Lord, though all men forsake
you, I'll not forsake you. I'll not forsake you. He looked
sure strong then, didn't he? I've been doing this a while,
buddy. You can count on me. You can count on me. And there
he is. He says to the disciples, fellas,
I'm reprobate. I don't know God. This has all
been a shame. These three and a half years
have just been a show of hypocrisy. I'm going back to fishing. That's the only thing I know
anything about. And there he stands in his weakness. And the
master comes to him. And all he can say is, Lord, what else can I say? You know
all things. You know that I love you. Now he's strong. My grace is sufficient for thee,
the Lord told Paul. He said, knowing this, I will
glory in my infirmities for when I am What does it say? Weak, then am I strong. I'll tell you when you're strong,
Winston. I'll tell you when you're strong. When you don't have anything
that you can lean on but Christ. When you've got nothing to comfort
you but the redeemer. When you've got no one to uphold
you, but him, nothing in yourself, no feeling, no experience, no
work, no knowledge, just him. Now, let hell come on. When I'm weak, then am I strong? Our Lord said to these same disciples,
how is it that you have no faith? How often I've heard him speak
those words to me. How is it that you have no faith? I'm not
telling you something I don't know anything about. I know what
I'm telling you. How is it that you have no faith? Well, you're
like Peter, so many times he's walking across the water. The
Lord said, come to me. And he started walking across
the water. You don't really believe that,
do you? Of course I do. Of course I do. He's walking, flat walking
across water. And then suddenly, he began to
sink. What happened? Hey, look at me. Look what I'm
doing. Oh, look at the waves. What happened? He was looking somewhere other
than Christ. And he cries, Lord, save me.
Our strength is Christ alone, believing Christ alone, leaning
on Christ alone for all wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, and leaning on Christ alone in all the affairs
of providence. Oh, God, teach me to quit pacing
the floor and biting my nails and trust you. Trust you. That doesn't mean that you're
Act irresponsibly. You know better than that. That
doesn't mean that you don't exercise what care and responsibilities
you have in life. It means you trust Him. Trust
Him. When we're doubtful and weak,
we don't see clearly whom we believe, why we believe. God give us grace then to believe.
It is written, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. whose mind
is stayed on thee." That's not all it says. It says, Richard,
thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on
thee because he trusteth in thee. The only relief there is for
troubled hearts is faith in Christ. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God. that He may exalt you in due
time. The Master says, coming to me,
all you that labor in heaven, lay down, I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, He said, and you shall find rest unto
your souls. We come to Christ initially trusting
Him, And he gives us rest. We enter into that blessed Sabbath,
ceasing from our works, and we rest. We rest in him. That's what it is to believe
on Christ. It's to quit working and rest
in him. Take everything out of your hands. Cast it all into
his hands. That's what it is to believe
on him. Paul says, as ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in him. Boy, I'd like to have a good
walk, close walk, strong walk, higher walk, lower walk, deeper
walk, whatever it is we got. I'd like to live like all two.
As you receive Christ. Ray, how did you receive him?
An empty-handed, dirty, filthy, helpless beggar. Trusting him
alone forever. Is that how you received him?
Walk to glory, just like that. So walk with him. If you ever
grow above that, you've outgrown grace. Now he says, take my yoke
upon you. Believer, as you walk with him,
quit kicking against the bricks. Like a well-tamed oxen, when
the oak appears, just bow down and slip under the yoke, and
life will be easy. take my yoke upon you and you
shall find rest unto your souls." All right, look at verse 2. Here's
a very sweet, comfortable description of heaven and the blessed abode
that awaits us on the other side of the grave. Oh, what a home
our eternal home must be. As he might go, how beautiful
heaven must be, sweet home of the pure and the free. Oh, how
beautiful it must be. In my father's house are many
matches. If it were not so, I would have
told you. He says, I'm not feeding you a pipe dream. I'm telling
you the truth. In my father's house are many
matches. Heaven is the father's house, our father's house. In other
words, heaven is home. This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. Heaven's
home. Heaven's home. I never knew what a home was
growing up. I was raised in a hell hole.
And I wasn't interested in staying at home. Soon as I got old enough,
I left home and never regretted it. Didn't want to go home. When I was a kid, I'd get out
as fast as I could and stay out as late as I could. I didn't
want to go home. Never knew what home was until I married that
lady. Now, 41 years, I've had a home. Oh, I'm telling you,
I've had a home. What a place. Home, that's where
we're loved just because we're part of the family. That's all. Not because of something we contribute,
not because of some possession we have, not because of some
talent, some gift, just because we're who we are. Home, that's
the place where we're always loved and loved to the end, even
when it appears otherwise. Home, that's the place where
we're never forgotten, always welcome. Shelby and I just have
the one daughter, most of you know. Now we've got a son, son-in-law,
and I cherish him. Thank God for him. Got two grandchildren. And I'll tell you what I've never
experienced. Tell you what I've never experienced.
I have never once seen their car coming up the driveway and
said, man, I wish they weren't coming today. Didn't matter how
busy I was. Didn't matter what I had to do.
Oh, why'd you have to come now? I've never seen them standing
on back porch. Well, who asked you to come? Well, that's not
possible. No, they're never forgotten,
always welcome. We are in a strange land here.
Soon, I'm going to be home. It's a place called mansions.
In my father's house are many mansions. Now, if you got one
of those Bibles been messed with, any of the modern translations,
they translate it abiding places, Dwelling places are just places,
many places. That's a place. Anybody want
to live there? That's a place. You could live
there. You could survive in there. Anybody
want to live in that place? Many rooms. That's a room. Would you like to move in? Oh
no, in my father's house are many rich, lavish, well-adorned,
well-supplied mansions for my own. And then he says that many
of them, many of them, they're described as 144,000 who enter
into glory. But that 144,000, That's a definite number given
for an indefinite. It's talking about all the 12
tribes of the children of Israel and all God's elect numbered
in those 12 tribes. So it's talking about a specific
number of people, but a number of people who can't really be
numbered. How do you know that? Because later he calls them 10,000
times, 10,000, yay, thousands of thousands. And then he calls
them a multitude that no man can number, many mansions. God's elect are many. Here are
a few here. Most places I go, I see a few
here and there. But when all's said and done,
there's a great multitude that no man can number, chosen by
God the Father, redeemed by God the Son, called by God the Holy
Spirit. And heaven is a place where Christ
is forever. Turn over a page to John 17. There we will be with Christ
forever. He says, where I am, there you
may be also. Verse 24, John 17. Father, I
will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am. I want Don Ford to write a peer
with me. I want him where I am. that He
may behold my glory, the glory that Thou hast given me, for
Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world." To be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. Oh, sweet consolation. All right, read on. Look at verses
2 and 3. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." The Lord Jesus went to glory
to prepare a place for us. How? He bought it with his blood. He earned it by his obedience.
He took possession of it as our forerunner and He prepares us
for it, giving us His very nature in the new birth. He took away
our sins at Calvary and makes us partakers of the divine nature
in the new birth, makes us new creatures in Christ so that right
now, Right now, we are meat. Every believing sinner, we are
meat. Right now, every sinner who trusts
Christ, meat, worthy, fit to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. Because we're righteous, and
we're forgiven, and we're made new. I'm going to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. I will come again and receive
you unto myself. Christ is coming. God teach me to live on the tiptoe
of faith, looking for my redeemer. Well, is this referring to him
coming for us in death or coming at second advent? Yes, that's
what it's referred to. Well, I want to be alive when
the Lord comes again. I don't care whether I am or
not. That really doesn't matter. Oh, wouldn't it be great to live
until the Lord comes again? No, that wouldn't be so great.
That wouldn't be so great. The dead in Christ shall rise.
What is that? First. That'd be all right, wouldn't
it? That'd be all right, wouldn't
it? You mean death's something to
be anticipated? Oh, yes. Now, Brother Don, you're
just blowing smoke. I've been there, and I'm not
blowing smoke. Well, why go to the doctor? Go
to the surgeon, because you're responsible for your life, not
because you're clinging to life. Oh, I want to live! I want to live till God gets
done with me. I want to live till I fulfill
what God has for me to do. And that's all. And when he's
done, he's coming to get me. He's coming to get me. And no
need to cry, because I want to die. He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Never die. Just drop in this
body of flesh. That's all. That's all. But the
Lord Jesus is coming again. He's not going to just wait for
us to appear with him in heaven. He's coming for his own. And
the scripture speaks of it this way, behold, he cometh. Isn't that a strange language? Oh, but what about signs of his
coming? There aren't any. There aren't any. Now, Brother
Don, you can't say that. You're right. I can't. There
are none! A foolish generation looks for signs. Is that what
he said? None. You mean, boy, there's so much
war and famine and pestilence and disease and immorality and
decadence. Oh, these must be the end days,
just as it was in the days of Noah. It's always been that way
on this earth. Things haven't changed in it.
Never changed any. There were many signs of his
first coming. None of his second coming. He tells us not to look
for a sign. Don't look for one. Oh, but what's
going on over there in the Middle East? That ain't nothing. That
stuff's been going on ever since Ishmael and Isaac started hating
each other. Nothing changed over there. Oh, but what about those
prophecies about the great nation in the north? Russia and the
Great Bear, the United States, oh, the great wars. I happen to know a fellow, y'all
remember Y2K? Y'all remember Y2K? I mean, the
world was going bananas. I happen to know a fella, my
wife went to school with his wife, they were roommates. Matter
of fact, first time Shelby and I dated, she had on some of this
gal's ear bobs. And they stopped by the office one day, just once,
that was enough. And he wrote books on Y2K. And I mean, went
around everywhere, writing books on Y2K. And do you know when
I met him? It was after Y2K was all over. And he's going back
to the same fool selling new books. No! No, we're not looking for
signs of His coming. Well, how would it live? Every
day, on the tiptoe of faith, the Lord's coming. The Lord's
coming, behold, He cometh. He's been coming ever since He
went back. Behold, He cometh. It ain't been 2,000 years. Let's see. I plan on being home
tomorrow. I've been gone longer than that.
I've been gone for five days. That's 5,000 years. 1,000 years
on his side of the hill? One day. One day is 1,000 years. He went to glory to prepare a
place for his bride and with every stroke of providence, with
every rising sun, and every moon appearing in the sky. He just
turned another page. There's the day. I'll be there. I'll be there. Behold, He cometh.
And when He comes, He will come that we may behold Him in His
glory. and He'll take us to be with
Him forever. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Amen.