I carry a poem in the flyleaf
of my Bible. When I'm preparing to preach,
I often read it. It expresses a prayer that goes
from my heart to God. It was written by a preacher
a long time ago. Lord, speak to me. that I may speak in living words
of thy grace. As thou hast sought me, so let
me seek thine elect sons of every race. Lord, O Lord, lead me that
I may lead the wandering and the wavering feet. Feed me, Lord,
that I may feed others with thy manna sweet. Lord, strengthen
me that I may stand firm on the rock and strong in thee, that
I may stretch out a loving hand to weary ones on the troubled
sea. Oh, teach me, Lord, that I may
teach the precious truth thou dost impart. and bless my words
that they may reach the hidden depths of another heart. Supply
my needs, O gracious Lord, that I may give to those in need.
I long to show along life's road my love, not only in word but
in deed. Use me, Lord, even me. Just as you will, and when, and
where, until thy blessed face I see, thy rest, thy joy, and
thy glory there. Now let's turn together to Luke
chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Before I read my text, let me
comment on the hymn, "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." Didn't
your conscience sting a bit when you sang, Jesus, Jesus, how I
trust Him? Trust Him I do, but I can't sing
about my faith. except as Judy did, O, for a
faith that will not shrink, though pressed by many a foe, that will
not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe. Lord, give me such a faith as this, and then, whate'er may come, I'll taste, even now, the hallowed
bliss of my eternal home. The Lord
Jesus says here in verse 27, consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass,
which today is in the field and tomorrow is cast into the earth,
how much more will he clothe you? O ye of little faith. He goes on to say, and seek not
ye what you shall eat, what you shall drink, neither be of a
doubtful mind. A better reading would be, stop
seeking what you shall eat. what you shall drink. Stop being
of a doubtful mind. Now that word doubtful mind might be translated many ways
and all of them accurate. He's saying stop being anxious.
Stop being ambitious. Stop being unstable. O ye of little faith, stop being
doubtful with regard to God's goodness, grace, and mercy. Neither be ye of a doubtful mind
regarding your salvation. O ye of little faith. Now let's see if that message
is for us. I know that there are many who
know nothing of God's grace, who know nothing of God's salvation,
who are absolutely confident that everything is well with
their souls. They sing and sing with gusto, blessed assurance,
Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine, because they've had a little religious experience. Such presumption
is deadly. I recall some years ago standing
in my mother's room in the hospital, stepped outside and her, what
can I call it, he called himself pastor, was speaking to one of
my sisters. He had just come from visiting
someone. Someone who had obviously no interest in the gospel. If
she had been in church there, she would have known anything
about it. But he said she just needed assurance of her salvation,
and I was able to give it to her. Ralph Barnett said something
years ago, and he was dead right. The only man who will try to
give a lost sinner Assurance of salvation is another lost
sinner. If you've got to get assurance
from me, you don't have any right to it. If you've got to get assurance
from a man, whatever assurance you have is a delusion, vain
presumption. But then there are those who
make doubting a matter of vital godliness. Some folks say if
you doubt, you're damned. Others say if you don't, you're
damned. But that too is a horrible, horrible thing. Our Lord says
to you and me as we trust Him, no matter what our circumstances,
no matter what our feelings, no matter what our failings may
be, no matter how great they are, neither be ye of doubtful mind. Oh, ye of little faith. You see,
our salvation, our acceptance with God is not a matter of feeling. It's a matter of faith. May God the Holy Spirit now write
his word on our hearts. I want to make five statements
arising from this word from our God. Oh, ye of little faith. We'll begin in Isaiah chapter
41, verse 10. I want you to turn with me to
these five texts of scripture. We'll look at some others, but
turn with me to these five. Isaiah 41, verse 10. Now listen carefully. Listen carefully. And I chose that word on purpose,
Ron, I'm talking about you and me, me particularly. We have entirely too many fears
for a people to whom the Lord God has said, Isaiah 41.10, are
you looking at it? Fear thou not. Have you ever taken a concordance
and looked up the number of times the Lord says, fear not? Fear
not, fear not. Stop being afraid. Stop it. Fear thou not, for I
am with thee. Be not dismayed. Now watch what
it says. Don't be afraid, because I'm
with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee. Look at this, because with me
it's a matter of righteousness. I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness. I read that and I wondered, Don,
why can't you believe God? Has He not proved His great faithfulness
to you? David heard God's promise and
he believed it. I wonder why we can't. God's
promise, the fact that God said it, quietened his heart. This
is what he wrote when he thought about death. And that's what life is in this
world. It's just a process of dying. Yea, though I walk. I love the way he said that.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, not running,
not fidgeting, I'm walking with deliberation and purpose. I'm
going through this valley because I'm fixing to climb a high hill
called God's holy hill of Zion. Yea, though I walk. through the
valley with death all around me, the valley of the shadow
of death. For me, it's just a shadow. Just a shadow. A shadow makes
little boys and girls fearful. A shadow casts itself and causes
minds who don't understand gloom. But a shadow ain't never hurt
anybody. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. What a word. Doesn't matter what
it is, where it comes from, or who brings it. How come, David? For thou art with me. your rod of correction, and your
staff, your staff of protection. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me." When he was hounded to death, his own son tried to kill him. Saul, king whom he loved and
admired and served faithfully, trying to destroy it. Whichever
way you take it, this is what David said when he was hounded
to death. What are you going to do? What
are you going to do? What would you do? What would
you do if a massive army was seeking your life and had orders
to kill you? This is what David said, I'll
do. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only, makest
me to dwell in safety. I can't protect myself. These
men around me can't protect me. All my friends can't protect
me. You only make me to dwell in safety. And he said, when
my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. We just have too many fears.
For people to whom God has said, fear not, I am with thee. Number
two, turn to Matthew chapter 6. This is a parallel passage. It's not the same account as
what our Lord gave in Luke 12. But this is his sermon on the
mount. He says virtually the same thing here with regard to
these things, as he said in Luke chapter 12, just puts it in different
language. And here's the second thing,
Matthew 6, verse 28. We have far too much anxiety
and worry, far too much fretting about material, earthly things. for a people to whom the Son
of God has said." Verse 28. Now this is what he said. Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto
you that even Solomon in all his glory never was dressed like
one of them. He never was arrayed Like one
of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the
grass, what could be more insignificant
than grass? Just grass. Not even nice fescue,
just grass. Just the wild lily. If God so
clothe the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is
cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye
of little faith? Turn to Philippians 4. Let's
look at this. Philippians 4, verse 19. Now,
remember the fellow who's writing it. Sometimes we read the epistles,
and we forget the circumstances. And we think, well, you know,
that fellow was living in a different day. He was living in different
circumstances. This fellow was living in prison. That's where
he was. He was about to die, and he knew
it. He was in bonds, as I've learned
to be content. And I can endure this, I can
do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can endure
whatever God puts on me, do whatever God gives me to do through Christ
who strengthens me. That's the context. Now look
at verse 19. These folks out of their great necessity had
sent Paul a gift and he was overwhelmed by it. He knew they couldn't
afford to do what they did. And this is what he says, but
my God, my God, what a word. He who sits on the throne of
absolute dominion is my God. My God shall. You see that? He shall supply all your need. Out of His riches and glory.
Anybody got a Bible that reads that way? It says, Larry, according
to his riches in glory. That's a big difference by Christ
Jesus. God will supply the needs of us, his people, not by reaching in his pocket
and giving us a little something, but according to his glorious
wealth. of grace and wisdom and goodness
and love by Christ Jesus. It'd be one thing if one of the
Rockefellers or Kennedys were to see that you and I have a
need and say, well, here, let me write you a check. That's
one thing. That's one thing. Even if it's a million dollars,
that's just out of their riches. Won't even miss it. Won't even
miss it. But if they were to say, now
I'm taking you under my wings, and I'm going to supply all your
need according as my need is supplied, according to my wealth. Well, I don't reckon I have to
worry too much about where I'm going to eat or sleep. According to God will supply
our needs. according to His infinite riches
in glory by Christ. That being the case, I have to
ask, why should I worry, fret, and pace the floor day and night
when God my Savior has promised that my Father will, for the
sake of His Son, provide me with everything I need in this world? Why should I concern myself about
that which God Almighty, who cannot lie, has promised? This is what our Savior says
right down here in Matthew 6 again. Just listen if you're not there.
He said, take no thought what you shall eat or what you shall
drink or wherewithal you shall be clothed. After all these things
do the Gentiles seek. Don't worry about that, for your
heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. Now turn to John
chapter 6, verse 37. Here's this third thing. We have far too many doubts concerning
God's mercy, His love, and His grace. For a people to whom the
Son of God has said, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me, watch this now, I will in
no wise cast out. Yeah, I come to him. Do you? I trust him. Do you? I won't talk about how I trust
him, but I trust him. I've got nothing else to trust.
I've got no one else to lean on for my soul's good. I trust
him. That's what it is to come to
him. I come to him for grace. I come to him for help. I come
to him for strength. I come to him. Now this is what
he said, I will in no wise cast you out. I will never for any reason on
any account by any means under any circumstances cast you out. Mr. Spurgeon once said this,
the scripture says, he that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting
life. I believe the Son of God. I have
life. Is that too much to say? The
scripture says, he that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting
life. Your faith is evidence God's
already given you life. Oh, but preaching my faith is
so weak. That's not what he said. But I don't trust him like I
ought to. Show me somebody who thinks he
does. I'll show you somebody who doesn't trust him. I trust
him. I have everlasting life. No matter how I feel about it,
no matter how I think about it, no matter how dead and cold and
hard my heart is, I have everlasting life. This is what the Savior
said. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never And nobody's going to snatch
him out of my hand. Not going to happen. I acknowledge I have difficulty with this matter
of confidence before God. I try to be honest with you.
I ought not have. I shouldn't have. But I have difficulty with
it. And I'm sure many of you do as
well. My shameful, sinful, baseless doubts are inexcusable. I won't try to justify them.
I won't try to excuse them. But rather, I reprove myself
for them. Upon what grounds dare I? upon what grounds dare I call
into question the mercy, love, goodness, and grace of God Almighty. I have absolutely no reason ever
to entertain any doubt concerning him. Somebody said, but God, I'm not
questioning God. I'm questioning myself. Let's try to be more honest. Let's try to be more honest.
Do I trust the Son of God? Do I trust Him? Do I look to
Him alone for acceptance with God? Do I look to Him alone for
salvation? Do I look to His blood alone
for atonement, for His righteousness alone for righteousness? Do I
trust Him alone to bring me to God? Then for me to question
His goodness is to question Him. Did He not promise, and shall
He not fulfill it? Why should we question His goodness,
His grace, ever? David was a sinner just like
us. And when Nathan came to him and
rebuked his sin, David said, I've sinned. And Nathan said,
the Lord's put away your sin. And David's response was, well,
I sure hope that's so. I hope that's right. Oh, I don't
know whether I trust him enough or not. No. His response was
this, Burl. Bless him. It's this man. Listen right here. To whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Paul was a sinner just like us.
same passions as we have, same temptations, same weaknesses,
same struggles. And this is what he said, I know
whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed to him against that
day. He said, I fought a good fight.
I finished my course. I'm ready to be off for the time
of my departures at hand. I've kept the faith. That doesn't
mean what folks commonly think of it meaning. Well, I've been
fighting the good fight. I've been keeping the faith.
I'm doing right. Paul said, I never quit believing
Christ. I never quit leaning on him.
I never looked anywhere else. I've kept the faith. Henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, a crown righteously
to be put on my head, which the Lord, the righteous judge, he
won't give it on any other grounds, shall give me at that day. But
Bob, that's not all he's saying. And not to me only, but you too. To all them also that love him
at his appearing. Look at Romans chapter 8 for
a moment. I said, well, preacher, we dare
not be too confident. We got to be careful now that
we're not presumptuous. Be careful that you're not presumptuous.
That doesn't mean don't be confident. Be careful that you don't have
confidence without any basis. But the basis is not in you,
it's in Him. You understand what I'm saying?
You can't be too confident of God. You can't be too confident
of His faithfulness. You can't be too confident of
His goodness. Listen to what Paul says, Romans
chapter 8. What shall we say then to these
things? What shall we say? We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. Look what it
says, Romans 8.31. Well, what's your response to
that? What's your response? Folks quote Romans 8.28, at least
fractions of it, all the time. They misquote it most of the
time. But folks recite Romans 8.28 one way or another all the
time. Well, what's your response to it? Let me tell you what the
heart of a believing sinner responds to that, or how the heart responds
to it. This is how I respond to it.
If God be for us, Who can be against us? Let all hell come
on. No harm's coming. Well, did you hear what so and
so did? I don't give a flip. I just don't care. Doesn't even
interest me. Not concerned. If God be for
us, who can be against us? Number two. 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? If God sacrificed
His darling Son for your soul, do you reckon He's not going
to give you a coat to wear when you need it? Number three, who shall lay anything against
the charge of God's elect." Wow, what a statement. The man who wrote this is a fellow
just like me, just like you, a sinner. Who shall lay any charge
against God's elect? Who's going to do it? Now, lots
of folks will try, in earth and in hell. But who is ever going
to write down any crime in the book of God's law against Don
Fortner? God has justified. Read on. Verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? There's therefore now no condemnation
of them that are in Christ Jesus. God said, who's going to change
it? Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. That means that Bobby Estes has
no reason for you ever to be condemned. Christ died for you.
He didn't just die, He rose again. Declare your sin has been put
away. He didn't just rise again, He also makes intercession for
us at the right hand of God. Now look at verse 35. I may be separated from your
love, and you may be separated from
mine. I may be separated from her love, and she may be separated from
mine. But who shall separate us from
the love of God? Bring it on! In earth? Who? In hell? Who? In heaven? Nobody! I am persuaded,
I stand absolutely convinced of this, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. All right, here's the fourth
statement. Turn to John 16, verse 33. Now I'm fixing to get real close
to you. We spend entirely too much time
and energy grumbling, complaining, and murmuring about our trials
and troubles. For a people to whom our Lord
Jesus Christ has said this, verse 33, these things have I spoken
unto you that you might have peace. In the world, you shall. Have you got that underscored
in your Bible, starred, somewhere emphasized? In the world, as
long as you are in this world, you shall have tribulation. But that's all right. That's
all right. Be of good cheer. Go ahead and
laugh it off. Be of good cheer. I've overcome
the world. We ought never be surprised when
troubles come our way. We ought to be surprised when
they don't. As long as we live in this world
of woe, we who are gods are going to have trials, tribulations,
temptations, afflictions, pains, and sorrows. And we're just going to have
to live with them. Let the rest of the world murmur
and complain and whine like sniveling babies. Children of God walk
in this world as children of God. walk in this world as men and
women who believe God. Every ounce of gold that has
ever been perfected and made valuable had to be refined with
fire. And if God puts the gold of his
grace in you, he's going to make it to be refined
with fire. This is what he said. I've chosen
you, not on a bed of roses, but in the furnace of affliction. Peter said, beloved, think it
not strange concerning the fiery trial of your faith, which is
to try you, as though some strange thing had happened to you. But
we think exactly the opposite of that, don't we? Trouble is
not strange for the believer. For the believer, the absence
of trouble is a strange thing. You see, God won't leave us alone. Aren't you glad? He won't leave us to ourselves. He won't do it. I see other children when I'm
out in public, store somewhere, misbehaving. Pitching fits, getting
in stuff they ought not to get into. I look at them, and I look
at their parents and want to whip them. But I don't even think
about whipping the kids. I don't think about it. But ours? Ours? Those aren't mine. I leave them alone. They don't
belong to me. They're not under my tip. I'm
not responsible for them. They're not mine. So I leave
them alone. But Audra Grayson will. They're mine. They're mine. And I'm not going to leave them
alone. They're mine. I'm not going to leave them alone.
And God's not going to leave you alone, James Jordan. He's
not going to let you have your way. He's not going to do it. He's not going to let you live
in rebellion. It ain't going to happen. He
won't leave you to yourself. He won't let you quit believing
in Him. It could happen. But we had a little trouble come.
It's amazing to me, folks who have the least complain the most.
Folks who have the most usually complain the least. A fella gets
a little hangnail and he goes, oh, woe is me. Man loses his arm or leg. Wife, child. And with a broken heart, he goes
on walking with God. But we have something happen
to us and we say immediately, why me? We ought to say, why not me? Shall I be carried to the sky? on flowery beds of ease while
others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?
Oh, no. Ron read that passage back in
the office in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 17. The Apostle Paul says,
our light affliction, the feather weight of earthly
heartache. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, it's light compared to what we deserve.
It's light, whatever it is. And I'm not making light of your
trouble. I weep for you when your heart
says that. I hurt with you. My heart's heavy
too. I'm not making a lot of you trouble.
But it's nothing compared to what you deserve. Nothing. It's like compared with what
your Lord endured for you. And it's like compared with what
most folks have to endure. And it's light because it's just
for a moment. But it's going to be over soon.
Whatever it is, it won't last long. It's just a day of trouble. And when the day's over, it'll
end. Now look at Hebrews chapter 11. Let me hurry. We have entirely too much attachment
to this world. to this present life for a people
who are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Look
at verse 8, Hebrews 11. By faith Abraham, our daddy and
our example, when he was called to go out into a place which
he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went
out, not knowing whether he went. By faith he sojourned. That's
a pretty good description of how we ought to live in this
world. Just moving on. Just moving on. In a land of
promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tents with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him are the same
promise. Oh, I reckon I can live in a tent. Me and my boys will
go into glory. Now watch this. For he looked
for a city. He looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, We have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And we know that
to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,
and the sooner the better. But we sure have a lot of difficulty
turning loose of this present existence called life. I can't explain that. I just
know it's so. But I know this, too. The only way for us to be
delivered from these carnal principles, the only way we will ever be
delivered from the cares of this world, the only way we will ever
be saved from our fears, our concerns, our doubts, our grumblings,
and our attachment to this world is if we find something better.