In the Word of God, we have plain descriptions of
many men, their lives, their character, their faith, their
religion, many who walked with God and
many who appeared to walk with God, and they are all written
for our learning. and for our admonition upon whom
the ends of the world are come. Some of them are shocking. There
was a prophet by the name of Balaam who knew the truth of
God and spoke in the name of God
but never knew God. There was a king by the name
of Saul who enjoyed great unusual experiences when the Spirit of
the Lord came upon Saul. At times he repented. He confessed
his sin. He made sacrifice to God and
he ruled Israel in the name of God. but he never knew God. There was a man who, like Peter
and Matthew and James and John, saw the Lord Jesus one day and
heard him preach. And he heard the Savior command
others, follow me. And this man left his business,
left his family, left his friends and followed the Lord Jesus.
He stood out in the church of God as the most eminent, most trusted, most respected
of all the early disciples. His name was Judas. He never
knew the living God. There was a man by the name of
Simon Magus who experienced great wondrous things under the preaching
of the apostles, but his heart was not right in the sight of
God. He never knew him. There was
a man by the name of Demas who was Paul's companion and fellow
laborer in the kingdom of God. He preached side by side with
him. walked many miles with him to preach the gospel. He learned
from Paul, he studied from Paul, he preached with Paul, he served
Paul for a long time. Paul sent this man Demas on many
errands in the name of Christ. Paul had great confidence in
Demas, but at last he had to write, Demas hath forsaken me. Having loved this present world. There was a man by the name of
Diotrephes in the church of which John was pastor. This man Diotrephes
was apparently a man of great gift and great influence, a man
with many abilities, a man who stood head and shoulders above
the others. But at last, John had to write a word to excommunicate
Diotrephes for Deutrophes loved to have the preeminence, and
his pride took him from the kingdom of God." Now, all of these things stand
in the Word of God as warnings and beacons to you and I, lest
we also make shipwreck of our souls. In 1st, or 2nd Peter, rather,
in 2nd Peter, the 1st chapter, the Apostle Peter admonishes
us with very plain words in verse
10. He says, Wherefore, the rather
brethren give diligence. Don't take this thing lightly.
Don't take this thing lightly. I have a sober, plain word to
speak to my heart and yours. I believe a word from God." Merle,
don't take it lightly. Don, don't take it lightly. Oscar,
don't take it lightly. Don't take this thing lightly.
Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. To make sure
that your calling is something more than an emotional experience. Make sure that your calling is
the calling of God. Make sure that your calling is
something better than what Demas and Diotrephes and Judas had. Make sure your calling is something
better than what Balaam and Saul had. Make sure your calling is
something more than merely a calling to change your life. Make your
calling and election sure. Make certain, make certain that
you're called of God and chosen of God. For if you do these things,
you shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered
unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Make your calling and election
sure, lest you miss the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. In chapter two, the apostle Peter
tells us of many false brethren Many false brethren who will
arise in the midst of the church. Many false brethren who will
rise up and sit beside you in the pew Sunday morning, Sunday
night, Tuesday night. They will arise within the professed
church of Christ. And in the end, they will prove
to be apostates. These false brethren will prove
in the end to be men who never knew God. They will, after a
time, forsake Christ, forsake the gospel of his grace, and
perish in unbelief. And if you or I follow their
apostate doctrine and follow their apostate ways, we too will
perish in unbelief. Look in chapter 2 and verse 20. For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Almost everybody here fits that.
Almost everybody here. We have escaped the pollutions
of the world. We're not vile, base, immoral,
drunkards, harlots, and whoremongers anymore. Our religious experiences
have caused us to escape the pollutions of the world. The
knowledge we have of Christ and his gospel, even if it's just
a head knowledge, has caused us to escape the lies we once
lived in this world and kept us from being defiled and polluted
with the rest of the world in this day. But listen, if after
having escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein. Not necessarily entangled in
horrible public vice, but entangled again with the world and overcome. The latter end is worse with
them than the beginning. For it had been better, listen
now, it had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the
holy commandment delivered unto them. It's better to live as
a heathen in the darkness of Africa than to hear the truth,
know the truth, and turn from the truth. But it has happened unto them.
According to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own
vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in
the mire. Now in chapter three, this same
apostle Peter warns us of scoffers, infidels, false prophets who
will come in the name of God but will turn away our hearts
from Christ, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? Those
wicked men will subtly turn away our hearts from Jesus Christ. And having been plainly warned
of the things that we must expect, this faithful servant of God,
the apostle Peter, gives us this solemn warning in verse 17. Ye therefore be loved. I say this to you because you
are beloved. I love you and I must be faithful
to your souls. Ye therefore be loved. Seeing you know these things
before, you know what I'm saying to you so. You know the deceitfulness
of your heart. You know the deceitfulness of
sin. You know the deceitfulness of
religion. You know the deceitfulness of
false prophets. You know these things must come
to pass and you know the snare of Satan by which many have fallen.
Seeing you know these things before, beware. Beware. Beware. Beware. lest ye also, being led away with the error
of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness." Peter is warning us that we must
ever beware of the danger of apostasy, the danger of forsaking We must beware of the error of
the wicked. I got to looking at that this
morning before I came over here, the error of the wicked. What's
he talking about in the context? The error of the wicked is apathy
and indifference. God saved me from an indifferent,
apathetic heart. apathy and indifference. The
error of the wickedness is apathy and indifference that leads to
worldliness. I do not mean by worldliness
a certain manner of dress or where you go, what you eat. That's
not what I'm talking about. But an apathy and indifference
that says, well, where's the promise of His coming? Let's
live for today. And let's live for the world.
Let's live for ourselves. Worldliness. An apathy and indifference
to the things of Christ breeds in men and women too much love
for and too much care for this world. It's the error of the
wicked. Oh, the deceitfulness of riches. It'll choke out the word. Oh, the care of this world. It'll
choke out the word. Now it'll do it. I tremble for
you and I tremble for my soul. Lest the care of this world choke
out the word from our hearts. The error of the wicked is apathy
and indifference that leads to worldliness that has its root
in unbelief. Just don't believe God. Oh, we profess to. We got all
the doctrine. I dare say every man and woman
here, most of the children have the doctrine right. Been well
instructed in doctrine. But those Jews in the wilderness
had the doctrine right. They knew the doctrine. We've
had experiences. Everybody here knows what it
is to be stirred emotionally, to have our hearts pricked with
the Word and our consciences pricked by the Word of God. Those
Jews in the wilderness, they had some experiences. They saw
God kill every firstborn child in Egypt and themselves live. They saw God split the Red Sea
and then drown Pharaoh's armies. They saw God pour out manna from
heaven. They saw God cause water to gush
out of a rock. Don't tell me they didn't have
any experiences. They saw God destroy Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
and they lived. They saw God Almighty split the
earth to swallow up His enemies while they still stood in the
hand of God living upon the earth. They saw the Lord God. so many
times intervene, so many times deliver, so many times miraculously
provide. And they looked at those things
and said, God's with us. And they all died in the wilderness.
Read the word of God. Do you realize that everyone
who came up out of Egypt, who walked for 40 years in the wilderness,
who was 20 years old or older when God delivered them out of
Egypt. Every one of them died except Joshua and Caleb. Every
one of them. And the Word of God tells us
why. They entered not in to the land of promise because they
didn't believe God. They didn't believe God. Now let me give you these two
words of exhortation. I hope God will be gracious.
and enable you to hear and heed what I'm about to say. We who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ must never despair of hope in Christ because of our
sin. We must never despair of hope
in Christ because of our sin. Do not allow Satan to rob you
of the comfort and joy and satisfaction and peace of hope in Christ. Do not allow Satan to rob you
of these things by tormenting you with the knowledge of your
inward corruptions or your outward sins, accusing you and condemning
you. If you believe Christ, do not
hear the accusations of Satan. Refuse to hear them. I know what
those accusations are. because of inward corruption,
mostly, mostly because of inward corruption, we're pretty good
at hiding the outward things. We're pretty good at behaving
outwardly so that folks look upon us with respect. But mostly
because of inward corruption, Satan comes along and he whispers
in your ear, you can't be a child of God. Look what a sinner you
are. A child of God would not have
the thoughts and imaginations that you have. A child of God
couldn't be as cold and heartless as you are. A child of God couldn't
possibly think like you do. A child of God couldn't possibly
have the corruptions that you have. God is not your father. Christ is not your redeemer.
The Holy Spirit is not your comforter. You're a hypocrite. You're a
carnal professor. There's nothing to you. Look
here at you. You will be condemned at last.
Now listen to me. If I am in Christ, if I, a sinner,
trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, there is therefore
now no condemnation. no condemnation. In the teeth
of all my sin, I can look God my Father in the face with comfort
and satisfaction and say, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute iniquity. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
dear son, has by his blood atonement taken away my sin. Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
the majesty on high, who also maketh intercession for us. Who
is he that shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifieth, and I'm persuaded that nothing shall
be able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Have confidence in Christ. Have
confidence in Christ. Never, never waver. Have confidence
in Jesus Christ the Lord. His righteousness is sufficient
even for you. His blood is sufficient even
for you. His grace is sufficient even
for you. In all the face of your corruption,
trust Jesus Christ. But hear this too. We must never
allow ourselves to become presumptuous and carnally secure. Pastor, what are you saying? We must never presume that because
we have experienced certain things, because we have heard certain
things, because we have felt certain things, or even because
we have believed certain things, that we're God's children and
there's no possibility that we are lost. Turn over to 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. Amos says, woe unto them that
are at ease in Zion. Woe unto them that are at ease
in Zion. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse
11. Now all these things happened
unto them. Who? Those Jews in the wilderness, those who lusted after evil things,
those idolaters, those who sat down to eat and drink and rose
up to play, those who committed fornication in the wilderness,
those who tempted Christ those who murmured and complained and
were destroyed. Now these things happened unto
them for examples, and they are written for our admonition upon
whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Every true believer fears, above
anything else, the removal of God's presence, his power, and his grace. This is how David prayed, not away from thy presence, and
take not thy Holy Spirit from thee." The Apostle Paul said, I keep
under my body, and I bring it into subjection. That is, I keep
under my body this physical life, and I bring my physical life
into subjection to the rule of Jesus Christ. lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be reprobate. Now, this is my greatest fear. I fear preaching Christ to others. and missing Christ myself. Bob, I fear ministering to you
and losing my own soul. I do not take the grace of God
for granted. I cherish it. I cry with David, Lord God, cast
me not away from your presence. I've seen him cast men away from
his presence. I cry, Lord, take not your Holy
Spirit from me. I've seen what happens when God
takes his Spirit from a man. And so I say with Peter to you
and to my own heart and soul, beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
If you care for your soul, hear what I say. Beware of presumption. Beware of carnal security. Let me make four or five statements. And as I make them, pray that
God will drive them as a shaft home to your heart and mine,
will you? I will be just as plain with
you as I can possibly be. God help you to hear me. God
help you to hear me. Beware. Beware of trusting an
emotional experience rather than experiencing the power of God
in the new birth. Feeling is not faith. Excitement
is not regeneration. A change of life is not a new
creation. Reformation is not conversion. You must be born again. Now we've
all had emotional religious experiences. Every one of us here, with the
exception of you children who were raised in this assembly,
Everybody here has been talked into some kind of religious profession
at some time in their lives. Everybody here has. I'll describe
what I experienced myself. You can fit yourself into the
place. When I was six years old, nearly
seven, the preacher told a sad tale at the close of the service,
and they sang a sad song, and I was sitting right there. right
on First Road, right there. And lots of folks started going
forward. And I went forward. Everybody was crying, and I was
crying. I tend to hardly go about it. I was crying. And somebody
knelt down beside me. I remember the man's name. I
remember his face. I remember his words. It was
an experience, an experience I won't forget to the day I die.
He said, now, Don, you realize you're a sinner, don't you?"
I said, well, I don't know. He said, well, the Bible says
we're all sinners. You believe the Bible, don't you? Well, yes,
I believe the Bible. Well, you've done some things
that were wrong, haven't you? He said, well, yes. I said, yes,
I've done some things that were wrong. He said, you've lied. Yeah. You've cheated. Yeah. Have you ever taken anything
that wasn't yours? Yeah, I've done that too. Well, you're a
sinner. And you don't want to go to hell,
do you? Oh, no. No. Well, sinners are going to
hell. Now, would you like to go to
heaven when you die? You bet your boots I'd like to
go to heaven when I die. I sure enough would. Well, believe
on the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved. Now repeat this prayer
after me. And he led me in that thing they
call the sinner's prayer. And I repeated it after him.
And he put his arm around me and he embraced me. Boy, I felt
so good. I felt so good. Just, oh, everything's all right
now. He said, now don't let anybody
ever tell you you're not saved. And you know, I went in that
profession of faith and used it as a refuge to comfort my
soul in every difficulty of life. until I was a grown man. Well, I'm saved, yeah. I can
take you to the time and I can take you to the place and I can
tell you the time where the Lord saved me by his free grace. Yeah,
I'm saved. I was there when it happened.
Yeah. Everything's all right with me and God. Doesn't matter what the reality
of my heart's condition is. I've had that experience and
some of you here are still trusting that same kind of experience.
It may happen to you when you're 35 rather than six or may happen
to you when you're 16 rather than 60, but you're still trusting
that religious experience. And I'm telling you, you got
to have something more than an emotional experience. You must
be born again. You must be born again. God Almighty,
by the power of his spirit through the preaching of the gospel has
got to invade your dead heart and give you life. Don't trust
an emotional experience. Don't do it. If you build your
house there, you build your house on sinking sand and in the day
of judgment it'll fall. Secondly, beware of confidence. Beware of confidence before God
based upon what you have done for Christ, rather than confidence
based upon what Christ has done for you. It is not what I have
done for God that gives me assurance. It is not what I have done for
God that gives me confidence. It is not what I have done for
God that gives me comfort, but rather what God has done for
me in Christ His Son. We are the circumcision. Turn
over there to Philippians 3. Philippians chapter 3 Paul says we are the circumcision
that is we are the true Israel of God. We are God's chosen anointed
covenant people. We are those who are born of
God. We're the circumcision Philippians 3 3 Those whose hearts have been
circumcised by the Spirit of God in the new birth. Here they
are. Who's born of God? Who is it
that's called of God? Who is it that has the new birth?
Who is it that lives before God? We are them which worship God
in the Spirit. Do you know anything about that?
Do you know what it is in your inmost soul to worship the living
God? Do you know what it is in your
inmost being by the direction of God the Holy Spirit in your
spirit to worship God? I think I do. I think I know
something about that. That means born of God. a born
of God, who rejoice in Christ Jesus. The word rejoice simply
means to trust, boasting, Oh yeah, yeah. Here's my confidence. Here's my assurance. Jesus Christ
is the Lord my righteousness. He is all my righteousness before
God. Here's my confidence. Here's
my assurance. Jesus Christ is my blood atonement
sacrifice for sin. God will accept him. Here's my
confidence. Jesus Christ is my high priest
in glory. God will not turn him away. and
have no confidence in the flesh. But my daddy's a preacher. But
my daddy's a thinker. But I've been in the church for
so long. But I've done so much. I doubt anybody here would say
those things with this mouth. Oh, my soul. confidence in the
flesh is to look to them in your heart as a basis of hope and
acceptance with God. It's the hardest thing in this
world to have no confidence in the
flesh. It's impossible but by the Spirit of God. It's the hardest
thing in this world to preach the gospel. Apparently in the
power of God's spirit. To the good of men's hearts and
souls. And see that word effectually
blessed to the hearts of men and not trust it. Hardest thing
on this earth. I preached Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday. Three different places. Each
time I was given a good measure of liberty to preach. After each message, it wasn't
just polite comments, but the comments of those who heard what
I had to say give evidence that they really heard what I was
saying, Lindsay. And God blessed it to their hearts for one purpose
or the other. It's the hardest thing in this
world not to go home looking to that as a matter of confidence
before God. No confidence in the flesh. No
confidence in anything I've ever felt, said, done, thought, or
experienced. No confidence in the doctrine
I believe, no confidence in the creed I defend, no confidence
in the preaching I do, no confidence in the prayers, no confidence
in the reading, no confidence in the study, no confidence in
the knowledge, but confidence only in the crucified substitute. Oscar, it's one thing to say
it, it's another thing to have it. It's one thing to confess it,
it's another thing to have it. It's one thing to say, I believe
it, another thing to have it. Thirdly, beware of an empty,
heartless, dead religion. indifference. And what you despise, mediocrity. You could work behind carpenters
or just mediocre carpenters. There could be better carpenters,
don't you? Go in there, we'll choose. Why don't we do it right? God Almighty say it's concerning
lukewarm men and women You're neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. And you're nauseated. Nauseated. I'll spew you out
of my mouth. Give me men who have hearts as
cold as ice and as hard as steel, or give me men whose hearts are
burning with fire for God, but don't let me have apathetic,
indifferent hearers. This was Simon Magus' problem.
Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. We're in grave danger and we
have reason to fear for our soul when we experience no blessing
or benefit from the reading or the preaching of the Word of
God. You remember when those disciples
walked with the Lord on the road to Emmaus, and He opened the
Scriptures, and He opened their understanding? And after the
Lord left them, they walked along and said, Did not our hearts
burn within us as He spoke to us by the way? Oh, God, do that
today. Do that today. You see, if the
Word of God ceases to convict my heart, and ceases to rebuke
my sin, and ceases to burn in my soul, when the Word of God
neither wounds me nor heals me, when it neither humbles me nor
causes me to rejoice in Christ, then God is not speaking to me
by His Word. And God speaks to His people
by His Word. Now He does. Lord God, let me never, like
Ephraim, become gospel-hardened. Never say of me as you did of
Ephraim of old. He's joined to his idols. Let
him alone. Oh, I keep praying for you and
me. I keep calling your names before
God and crying, Lord God, don't leave me alone. Don't leave them
alone. Whatever else you do, don't leave
us alone. Don't leave us alone. God, speak
to us by your word. Cause your word to be like fire
and like a hammer in our hearts to melt and break. Speak. Wound
and heal. Cause me to mourn and cause me
to rejoice by your word. If God doesn't speak to me by
his word, I'm afraid I don't know God. Is that reasonable? Is that reasonable or not? We're in trouble when we become satisfied with
our spiritual progress and content with our knowledge of Christ. I spoke to someone of the day, the man and I were
riding along in the car. As usual, he wanted to argue
with me about a few things. Finally, I just quit answering
him. I just quit answering questions. The question was asked, well,
why don't you answer the questions? I said, he's not interested in
learning anything. He knows too much. He knows too much. He knows everything. He's grown too much. And I said
that with pain. Because I realize when a man
knows too much to learn and has grown too much to grow, he knows
nothing and he has no life. If I cease to learn of God, I
cease to be taught of God. If I cease to be taught of God,
I cannot know God. And if I do not know God, I have
no life from God. With the Apostle Paul, my prayer
is this, oh, that I may know him. all that I may know Him, know
Him, in the power of His resurrection, in the fellowship of His suffering.
I want to know Him. Oh, I want to know Him. And I
want you to know Him. We're in grave danger when we can absent ourselves
from the assembly and fellowship of God's without feeling great
loss and emptiness of heart. Now turn to Hebrews chapter 10. is the fellowship of God's saints,
public worship, ministry of the gospel. Just how important is
it? Most people, most people, listen
now, fit it into their schedule, didn't they? His schedule this week. Let's
see here. Oh, well. We'll have to miss
church today, but Lord understands. We got something important coming
up. Little Johnny is going to go
get his picture made. We wouldn't want to miss that. No. Lord will understand. Why? Little Bobby's gonna We're
going to play ball today. Why, we wouldn't want to miss
that. We can always go to church, but little Bobby only plays ball
once a week. We can always go to church. Church will always
be there. Preacher will always be there.
Always be. God will always be around. He's got to call on me.
He'll always be there. Well, there's sure enough
a good movie coming on Saturday night. Three o'clock in the morning,
I believe I watched that. Well, boy, I'd have to sleep
in Sunday morning. Might not be able to get up.
God will understand. It's a good movie. Long as I
don't see it. I don't see it. I can always go to church. Not
important. You know, God will always be
around. I'll throw him a tip when I come.
I'll chunk in a dollar or two. God will understand. Well, got
to go see the boy this weekend, the daughter next weekend, and
Aunt Susie the next weekend, and Uncle Bob the next weekend. Well, this is a five-Sunday month.
I believe we can get there on the last Sunday of May. God'll
understand. He's always there. Say, preacher, we don't talk
like that. Oh, don't we? Huh? Don't they? I never heard anybody say those
things. I hear it Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night.
I hear it all the time. I hear it all the time. I'm just telling you what I hear.
And I want to tell you just how important it is. Look here in
Hebrews 10 verse 25. Paul's admonishing us to hold
fast the profession of our faith. He's admonishing us to be faithful.
He's admonishing us to provoke one another to good works, to
persevere in the faith. Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Now look at verse 26. For if we sin willfully after
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins." Now, I want to tell you something
I just can't understand. You can take it any way you want to take
it. If God will speak to you about what I have to say, all
the better. But I cannot understand for the
life of me, not for the life of me, I cannot understand the
believer willingly, deliberately choosing to absent themselves
from the blessed privilege of assembling with God's saints,
singing the praises of God and hearing the gospel of his grace.
I just flat cannot comprehend that. And I want to tell you
something else. I'm convinced believers don't.
They just don't. They just don't. I realize that all of God's people
at various times have things to happen in God's providence
that prevents them from doing what they plan to do in the worship
of God. But I want to tell you this.
I know it's God's people plan their lives around worship. Isn't
that right? You plan your life around faith.
I know you do. I know you do because you hear it. Bob, you plan your life around
the worship of God, don't you? Well, Dave, you want to come
over tonight? Well, come on. We'll see you
at the church. Brother Barnard said, my God,
doesn't anybody have relatives that are saved? Everybody's got
to stay at home. Because Aunt Sally's coming,
or Uncle Jimmy's coming, or our cousin Bob's coming, or Mama's
coming, or Daddy's coming. Let the world go to hell! I'm
going to worship God. That's right. That's right. I don't care who comes. I don't
even care why they come. I'm going to worship God. I've
made my arrangements. This is what I'm going to do. but preacher. Now, you can listen to me or
you can despise what I'm saying, but I'm telling you that's the
way it is. That's the way it is. To forsake
the worship of God is to forsake Jesus Christ. To forsake the
ministry of the gospel is to forsake Jesus Christ. To forsake
the fellowship of God's saints is to forsake Christ. If you
can neglect and despise and leave everything on this earth that
is identified with the Son of God, it's because in your heart
you neglect, despise, and forsake the Son of God. Is that too hard,
Wes? That's just plain. That's just
plain. You tell me how highly you value
the worship of God, I'll tell you how highly you value the
Son of God. You tell me how highly you value the preaching of the
gospel, I'll tell you how highly you value the Son of God. You
tell me how highly you value the fellowship of God's saints
in the worship of Christ, I'll tell you just how highly you
value the Son of God. Exactly so. When our hearts cease to be troubled
and vexed by sin, the world, and worldliness, our hearts are
in great trouble. If I become comfortable with
men who never knew my God and begin to be conformed to the
ways of natural men, seeking pleasure rather than propitiation,
seeking materialism rather than mercy, seeking gain rather than
godliness, seeking the applause of men rather than the approval
of God, then the light of God in my soul is either damned are
altogether extinguished. That's just fact. That's just
fact. Something's bad and wrong. Something's
bad and wrong. For the man who professes faith
in Christ would not think about missing
his Monday night card game with the fellas. He'll arrange his
life to be there Monday night. We play cards every Monday night.
The boys are camping on me. I've got to be there on Monday
night. I've got to be there. That's the only time of recreation
I've got. And then he'll neglect and despise
the worship of God. There's something wrong with
that. I mean, we're fouled up somehow. If you think that's Christianity,
if you think that's faith in Christ, If you think that's life
from God, it just ain't. It's just not. Where's your heart? My God, where's
my heart? Is it on Christ or on this world? Where is it? I said, boy, I'd sure like to know
the answer to that question. I'm going to give you the answer.
I'm going to give you the answer. You can dead sure mark this down.
This is the answer. Where is my heart? What occupies
my mind? That's where my heart is. What claims my time, my talents
and my energies? That's where my heart is. That
little girl there, boy, I love her. She has some claim to my time,
talents, and energies. But I think she knows that somebody
else has a superior claim. If it means neglecting her, Christ
has my time, my talents, and my energies. Where do you put your money? Put your money in this world,
in the pleasure and pursuits of the world. I hear folks all
the time make excuses for not being able to give to missions
and not being able to give for the gospel and not being able
to give for this, that and the other thing. Eat in the finest
restaurants, wear the finest clothes, drive the finest automobiles,
live in the finest homes. No, something wrong. There's
something wrong. Is that right, Lindsey? Sure,
it's right. Sure, it's right. If it shuts
you and me both out, I know it's right. I know it's right. Where's
your money? That's where your heart is. That's
where your heart is. What do you talk about most? What do you talk about? Come
on. When you and your wife talk, what do you talk about? When
you and your children talk, what do you talk about? When you and
your neighbors get together and talk, what do you talk about? When you and your family get
together and talk, what do you talk about? I'll tell you what you
talk about. You talk about the thing that
your heart's occupied with. That's what you talk about. With most people, it's politics,
economics, bigger, better job, bigger, better salary, bigger,
better house, newer, nicer car, buying better clothes. With the people of God, it's
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who he is and what he's done Our souls are in grave danger
when we begin to be selfish and self-interested. Selfishness,
like self-righteousness, is not of God but of the flesh. The
heart that is filled with God's love and his grace dwells on
others, serves others, and seeks the happiness and welfare of
others. Now, here's a danger. of which we must beware. Beware, lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. I hope, by God's grace, I've
spoken to every heart here. I hope I have. And I hope you'll
be here tonight. I want to give you some help
in this matter of steadfastness. In the meantime, I send you home
with this prayer. It's my prayer for myself and
for you. Lord, through the desert, drear
and wide, our erring footsteps need a guide. Keep us, oh, keep
us near thy side. Let us not fall. Let us not fall. We have no fear that thou shouldst
lose even one whom eternal love could choose. But we would not
this grace abuse. Let us not fall. Let us not fall. Lord, we're blind and haught
and lame. We have no stronghold but thy
name. Great is our fear to bring it
shame. Let us not fall. Let us not fall. Lord, evermore thy face we seek. Tempted we are, and poor and
weak. Keep us with hearts lowly and
meek. Let us not fall. Let us not fall. All thy good work in us complete,
and seat us daily at thy feet. Thy love, thy words, thy name,
how sweet. Let us not fall. Let us not fall. And I beseech you, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, because that's just what
you ought to do.