How tedious and tasteless the
hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer sun shines but
dim, the fields strive in vain to look gay. But when I am happy with him,
December's as pleasant as May. His name yields the richest perfume. And sweeter than music his voice
His presence disperses my gloom And makes all within me rejoice
I should, were he always thus nigh, Have nothing to wish or
to fear, No mortal so happy as I, My summer would last all the
year. Content with beholding his face
My all to his pleasure resign No changes of season nor place
Would make any change in my mind While blessed with a sense of
His love, A palace a toy would appear, And prisons would palaces
prove, If Jesus would dwell with me there. Dear Lord, if indeed
I am Thine, If Thou art my sun and my song, Say, why do I languish
and pine, And why are my winters so long? Oh, drive these dark
clouds from my sky Thy soul-cheering presence restore Or take me unto
the on high Where winter and clouds are no more I would like to read the scripture
from Psalm 24. I want to remind you that this Wednesday
we will not be having services. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This passage of scripture was
such a blessing to me at one time during my stay in the hospital
recently, and I wanted to read it to you, Psalm 24. Only one verse I want to point
out, but let's read this entire psalm together. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon
the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? Now, here's
the verse that hit me in such an unusual way. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart who hath not
lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall
receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from
the God of his salvation." Now, I've got a question. The only one who will ascend
into the hill of the Lord is that one who is described not
as someone simply was forgiven, but who had clean hands, and
he had a pure heart, and had not lifted up his soul from the
vanity. That's the only one who will
be accepted. I have not lifted up my soul
in vain. In Christ I have clean hands,
and in Christ I have a pure heart. Yes, that describes the Lord,
but that describes every one of His people, what we are in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful? And when
I read that passage of Scripture at the time, I was feeling kind
of down, and that just Thrilled me, that's me. What a blessing. Well, we're so pleased to have
Brother Henry Mayhill here. Come on, praise the Lord. I thank Kara for singing my song. I think if I had what you call favorite songs,
one of them would be, He Hideth My Soul, and the other would
be, How Tedious and Tasteless Thou Art. when Jesus no longer
I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness from me. And I know two people on this
earth that can sing that song the way I think John Newton meant
it to be sung, and that's Carol and Judy Estes. I'm always so
blessed to hear Judy sing that song too. Thank you, Carol. It's
a great, great hymn. 1 Thessalonians is my scripture
tonight. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Let me read about four or five
verses. I call this message the principles
of grace. The principles of grace. You
could call it the rules of grace, but somehow rules doesn't go
with grace. You could call it the law of
grace, but somehow the word law doesn't go with grace. So I call
it the principles of grace. You know, people, people who
are the objects of God's grace. do what they do because they
desire to do it, not because they have to do it. People who
are the objects of God's grace and love and mercy do what they
do because they desire to do it. For them, duty is a joy and
a pleasure. Their labor is a labor of love. Their works are works of faith. So let's look at them and then
we'll comment on them. Verse 16. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Quench not the spirit. Despise
not preaching, prophesying. Prove all things hold fast that
which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very
God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray, God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse sixteen, rejoice evermore. This
word, rejoice, must be mighty important to you and to me, because
the Apostle Paul, in four chapters in the book of Philippians, uses
that word nine times. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. He said finally, winding it up,
he said, rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Rejoice in his person. You know,
when Thomas finally saw the Lord after he'd been raised from the
dead, Thomas said, well, except I see the spear mark in his side
and put my hands there, I won't believe. And Christ showed himself
to Thomas and said, Thomas, reach into thy hand and touch my side
and be not faithless, but believe. Well, he didn't reach out. He
fell down. and worshiped and said, my Lord
and my God. Rejoice in His person and rejoice
in His love. Could we within the ocean field,
could the skies of parchment make, were every stalk on earth
a quill and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain that ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. O love of God, how
rich, how pure, how measureless, how strong! It shall forevermore
endure the saints' and angels' song." I rejoice in His person,
in His love, and as I said this morning, in His precious, redeeming,
cleansing blood. I love the blood. I don't think
a sermon ought to be preached without the blood being mentioned
and stressed. Rejoice in His precious blood,
and rejoice in His return. One of the last things He said
to the disciples before He went to the cross, He said, I go to
prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there you may be also rejoiced. All the time, any time,
about all things. Let me show you a passage of
Scripture that has such a strong, profound effect upon me every
time I read it. Turn to the book of Habakkuk.
The book of Habakkuk, one of the last books in the Old Testament,
Habakkuk, Zechariah. Here it is, Habakkuk chapter
three. Habakkuk chapter three, verse
seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. I want you to get it and read
it with me and put a big star by it. All right, go back to
3, verse 17. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. Now, this is
famine. This is want. This is poverty. This is everything
gone. The fig tree is not blooming,
and there's no grapes on the vines. The labor of the olive
tree shall fail, and the field shall yield no leaf. And the
flock, no sheep, the flock shall be cut off from the foe, and
no herd in the stables, yet, yet, yet. I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." When things are
tough as things can be, he said, Now, here's what we call the
antitype, or antithesis of that. Turn to Deuteronomy, Chapter
8. This should be read right after
reading that. Deuteronomy, Chapter 8. It's
good for all of us, good for me. In Deuteronomy, Chapter 8,
starting with Verse 11. Deuteronomy 8, Verse 11. You got it? Now here's a warning. That's an exhortation. Rejoice.
Here's a warning. Deuteronomy 8, verse 11, Beware
that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments
and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day. Lest when thou hast eaten and
are full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwell therein. And
when thy herds shall and flocks multiply, and thy silver and
thy gold multiply, and all that thou hast is multiplied, careful,
then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy
God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt and
out of house of captivity. And Bob don't forget it. I tell
you what the greatest enemies to spiritual prosperity and blessing
is plenty. Abundance. Abundance. That's what's wrong with our
country right now. Got too much. Don't need anything. Rich and increased with goods
and have need of nothing. Who needs God? Well, Rejoice. This rejoicing is not outward
emotion. It's hard love. This rejoicing
is not in ourselves, never, but always in Him. And this rejoicing
is not just when we're meeting in the church building. It's
evermore. Rejoice evermore. And this rejoicing
is not because of material blessings. Rejoice that your names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's it. All right, let's go back to my
text. First Thessalonians, Chapter 5. First Thessalonians, Chapter
5, verse 17. Pray without ceasing. pray without ceasing. John Mungin
made this tremendous observation. He said, sooner expect a natural
man to live without breathing as to expect a believer to live
without I just as soon, he said, expect
the natural man to live without breathing as to expect a believer,
a child of God, to live without praying. Because prayer and worship
is the life of the believer. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not that a Christ lives in me, And the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. Believers cannot always
be on their knees. I know that. What does this mean,
pray without ceasing? You can't stay on your knees
all the time. Believers cannot always call
vocally upon God. There's got to be a time for
food, rest, sleep. There's got to be a time for
mothers and family duties and men to go to work. And what does
this mean, pray without ceasing? It means to pray daily. It means
to pray often. And you will, we will. It means
to pray about everything. All matters, however mundane
they seem, they seem, pray about everything and live in an attitude
and a spirit of fellowship and contact and communion with God,
always aware of His presence, always aware of His mercies to
me, and always aware of my dependence on Him. I used to hear a fellow sing
a song years ago, the sins I have confessed to thee. Forgive the
secret sins that I just do not see. O guide me, and love me,
and my keeper be. Dear Lord, forgive." And we live
in a constant attitude and spirit of the mercies of God and the
grace of God and our total dependence upon God and His forgiving, loving,
tender kindness to us. One of the old Puritans wrote
this, prayer, what is prayer? Prayer is our soul's sincere
desire, unothered or unexpressed. The motions of a holy fire that
tremble and burn in our breast, probably without ceasing, in
an attitude and spirit of contact and communion with God. All right,
everything, watch this now, in everything, in everything, give
thanks. In everything, give thanks. Father,
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The companion
verse to that scripture. Hold that right there and turn
to Ephesians chapter 5. This is a companion verse. Ephesians chapter 5. In everything,
everything, you thank, this is the will of God for you. Right
now, this is the will of God for you. Ephesians 5.20. giving thanks always for all
things under God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Giving thanks for everything
because everything, while not according to my will and not
according to my choosing, is still the will of God. Give Him thanks for everything,
for all things, knowing this, that all things do work together
for His glory and our glory. And I give thanks for everything,
while everything is not according to my will or my choosing, but
it's still according to His will. This is the will of God for you. giving thanks for everything,
because what, this is so important, very important, giving thanks
for everything at all times, because what God brings to pass
in my life is not only for me, it's not only for my sake, it's
for the will and purpose of God for everybody with whom I've
been God. That's right. Not just my family,
my children, my acquaintances, my friends, the people whose
life I've touched. Give thanks for everything, because
it's the will of God. Not specially for my will, or
not specially for my choosing, or not specially for my benefit.
It may be a tough, tough trial. But it's for somebody in which
God is involved. It's for somebody. You know Naomi. Think about this. Naomi, she
and her husband sold out, moved, left town, left Bethlehem, took
the two sons, went to Moab, a pagan place. And that's where they
live. And Naomi's husband died. And
then her two sons died. And then she started back to
Bethlehem. And this is what she said, God has dealt bitterly
with me. God. That's what she said. They
said, here's Naomi. They said, don't call me Naomi.
Call me Mara. Bitter. God's dealt bitterly
with me. Yes, she went to Moab to get
Ruth. and brought Ruth back with her.
And then when she brought Ruth back with her, she came in contact
with Boaz. And Boaz brought her right back
to where she was and all the beauties and wonderful things
that she could have. And then, one day, she held in
her arm her great-grandson, and his name was David. Man, that took God's God dealt
bitterly with me. No, he hadn't. No, you just thought
he did. You just thought he did. You
just think like all the rest of us do. God doesn't deal bitterly with
any of his children. God deals graciously and compassionately
with all of his children. Don't you, don't you judge things
by what they, by things which appear. You judge these things
by those things which don't appear. That's not too deep, it's just
so. I can't explain the troubles
and trials and disappointments that God brings to pass in the
life of His children. I just want to remember this
verse, in everything give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. You know why? Because God is
the first cause of all things. First cause. One of the most
difficult days of our lives is when our son, firstborn son,
came back from Vietnam in a coffin with both arms, both legs gone.
Why? Want to answer that for me? God
is the first cause of all things. That's why. That's why. It's the Lord! When Eli's two
sons were destroyed, he said, what you gonna do about that?
He said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seems good in
his sight. God's the first cause of all
things. Let's remember that. And when there's no herd in the
stall, and there's no meat in the freezer, and there's all
these things, the jaws of the robber. Can you do that pretty well?
I'm not going to say yes, but I ought to. I should. One of my friends said to a friend,
he said, you're nothing but a habitual bitcher. That's not a good compliment,
is it? Why don't we all quit doing that? Just stop it. Just stop it. Just stop it right now. Thank
God in everything. Give thanks. Because this is
God's will for you. You may not like it, but it's
still God's will. You may not choose it, But it's
still God's will. Look at the next one, verse 19,
quench not the spirit. You know, in dealing with this,
Brother Todd, in dealing with this statement, quench not the
spirit, I would do well to remember what it does not mean. That's
where I'm going to start, what it does not mean. Quench not
the spirit does not mean that you can prevent. or hinder the
Spirit of God from accomplishing His purpose and His will. That's, you can't do that. You
can't. And I have one scripture that
tells me that. Our Lord said, the wind bloweth
where it listeth. And you hear the sound. But you can't tell whence it's
coming, and you don't know where it's going. So is everyone born
of the Spirit. You can't stop Him, correct Him. You cannot hinder Him. You cannot
prevent Him. He's going to do what He will. You have He quicker than you
were then. The Scripture says the Holy Spirit
divided to every man separately as He will. So it's not of him
that loveth, nor of him that willeth. All right, what does this mean,
then, quench not the Spirit? Well, Paul describes the fruits
of the Spirit. Let's turn to that, Galatians
chapter five. Let's turn to that for just a
moment. The fruit of the Spirit. That's what the Holy Spirit produces
in the life of a believer, the fruit. It's not fruits. It's
not plural. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
Everybody who has the Spirit has the fruit of the Spirit,
to some degree or other. In other words, here they are.
Love. Every believer loves, to some
extent. Every believer has joy. He wouldn't
be saved if he didn't have peace, long-suffering, patience, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no love.
And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the
affections, and thus thereof, if we live in the Spirit, let's
act like a believer. Let's walk in the Spirit. That's
what he's saying. The fruits of the Spirit. If
you live in the Spirit, if God's Spirit dwells in you, then act
like a believer. Talk like a believer. Walk like
a believer. Verse 26, said, don't be desirous
of vain glory, provoking one another, ending one another,
walk in the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. And then I'll tell you another
thing here. Quench not the Spirit, but stir it up. Let me show you
another scripture. Turn to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy
chapter 1, verse 6. 2 Timothy 1, verse 6. Paul says this in 2 Timothy 1.6,
"...Wherefore I have put you in remembrance, that you stir
up the gift of God, stir up the gift of God, which is in you
by the putting on of my hands. For God has not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and love of the Son of Man."
Stir up! You know, we used to bash the
fire. I lived in the country and everybody had open fires
and burned wood and grates. And at night, when it turned
cold, my dad would bank the fire, put ashes on the fire. Just make
it go down, down, down, down, down. And bank the fire. Next morning, still some embers
there, but it was lying low. He'd come in with a poker. Bang
it, bang it, bang it, bang it. Stir it up. Stir it up. Put on some more water. Stir
it up. That's what Paul's talking about. Stir up the gift of God. Put it to the Spirit. We're not
robots, you know. We're not robots. Scripture talks about in Philippians
chapter 2. Listen to what it says right
here. Philippians chapter 2. Verse 12. We're not robots with
people, with emotions, all these other things. Philippians 2,
verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation. Stir up the talents and gifts
opportunities God gave us. I used to tell folks, you know,
when you feel impressed, when you feel impressed to give somebody
something or to do something for them, don't analyze it. If you feel like you should give
a certain amount of money or something else for somebody or
a gift or potatoes or whatever, don't analyze it. I can't afford
that much. When God lays it on your heart,
just do it. Don't analyze it now, because
you'll figure out a half a dozen ways not to do it. That's right. Now, you might get in trouble
doing that often, but most of the time it's the thing to do. We have a way of analyzing things.
We have to say, can I afford it? If he told you to, you can. That's just, I just know that's
something. Just do it. Let's do it. Preach not the Spirit. Isn't that what that's talking
about? Don't hinder, but just share of the fire. Now here,
verse about where I'm supposed to be here, 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. Despise not prophesying. What is that? That's preaching.
Despise not preaching. Now the Old Testament was written
by the Old Testament prophets. God, who at sundry times and
in different manners, spake in times past to our prophets, hath
in these last days spoken thus by his Son and by the Apostles. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Prophets and the New Testament
writers. And God uses preachers. God still
uses preachers. He saves sinners by the foolishness
of preaching. That's right. He reveals Christ
to the hearts of his people by preaching, not by sharing, sitting
around a table arguing. Preaching He pleased God with
the foolishness of preaching, doing exactly what we're doing
right now. But preaching, it pleased God
with the foolishness of preaching to save His people. His comfort
comes through preaching. So this is what Paul said here.
Don't despise. Don't neglect. Don't hold in
small esteem. Don't set it, no. The preaching
of the Word of God, because by it, men are saved. And one man
told me one time, he said, now you just write it down. If you
preach the Word of God, people are going to, they're going to,
they're going to respond. They'll either get mad, sad,
or glad, but they're not going to be neutral. Mad, glad, or
sad. Preach it. Preach it. A lady in our church, a widow
lady, called her boyfriend to hear me preach. Never been there
before. I never met him. He walked in,
sat down with her, Opal Clark. She's dead and gone now, and
chapped. They later married. But anyway, he came in, sat down,
and I preached that Sunday morning. And he got up with her and left.
And she said he was awful quiet. And she said, after a while,
sitting in the quietness of the car as they drove along, she
said, what's wrong? Boy, he said, you sure feel that that put you
in on me, didn't you? She said, champ, he never met
you, and I've never told him about you. He just knows the
center when he meets you. That man was converted. He came
back. He heard me preach. That's, God
uses the preaching of the gospel. Our Lord was a preacher. John
the Baptist was a preacher. Solomon was a preacher. Noah
was a preacher of righteousness. Don't, don't despise. A lot of preaching is pretty,
ought to be despised. Some of us don't care, you know,
just, but not this kind of preaching. God uses it. I was in a Bible
conference one time. Several years ago, 20 years ago,
I was in a Bible conference with Brother Portman, Brother Scott
Richardson, and I. That is another preacher. But
anyway, we were going to have a service that night, and Scott
was going to preach, and I was going to preach. And we was eating
lunch, eating dinner out on the grounds while we were waiting
for the service to start. And I was sitting there and Doris
was close by and I said, honey, would you get me a cup of coffee?
So she took my cup and went into the kitchen and got a cup of
coffee and brought it back. There was a lady sitting across
from me and she got angry. She can get mad and sad. And she turned to the person
next to her and said, looks like to me he could get up and get
his own coffee if he wanted it, you know. Well, you know. But
anyway, she told this lady, she said, I'm not hearing him preach
tonight. I'll go hear Brother Scott, but I'm going home. Scott
was first and I was second. So she stayed to hear Scott. And Scott preached the word of
God. And he got two of them. She stayed. And then God let me preach. This
is the truth. Finished the message. And a man
in the back said, that's enough for me. I'm going to trust in
the Lord. Walked on up. Here she came.
Here she came. Right behind him. She said, I've
been proud and arrogant, and I'm going to ask the Lord to
do something for me too. Preaching! That's the way it's
done. Just a year ago, I was down there
at a meeting. She's still my buddy. We're dear
friends. She loves me because of what
I preach. I've had some bitter enemies
become cherished friends. Why? Because of the gospel. So
don't neglect and despise and hold in little esteem the preaching
of the gospel. Paul said something to Timothy
about that over here in 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. He says in verse 8 of 2 Timothy
1, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me, his prisoner. but be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel, yourself for the power of God." If you're working
somewhere and there's a preacher of the gospel around, don't hold
him in low esteem. Thank God for him. A true preacher
of the gospel. Let everybody know he's your
friend. Because if you give a cup of
cold water In the name of a disciple, Christ said, for my sake, you'll
never lose your reward. My Lord said that. But don't
despise them, and don't hold them in low esteem. Let's finish
right here in 1 Timothy 5. Despise not preaching, verse
21, prove all things. Prove all things, hold fast that
which is good. Prove all things by what? By
the Word of God. That's the only place you can
prove anything, by the Word of God. I said, men are liars, and
they're still men, but God can't lie, He couldn't be God. God
is true. And I know some people embrace
everything that's religious. If it's religious, they embrace
it. Some people are critical of everything
religious. It's about both things going
on around us. Everything has got a cross on
it, they fight, you know. Everything is religious, they
fight. And some people just hate everything that has anything
to do with commandments and God and salvation and born again.
But wise men seek the Lord. Wise still. The wise men were
seeking the Lord. They still seek the Lord. Wise
men prove all things by the word of the Lord. And wise men hold
fast to that which is good. And wise men abstain from every
appearance of evil. And here's our benediction. Verse
twenty-three and twenty-four and twenty-five, the apostate.
And he quoted this to me a while ago. And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly. And I pray, God, your whole spirit,
soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. What did you say, Todd? Faithful
as he. Faithful as he that calleth you,
he'll do it. That's for sure. Thank you. This has been a great
joy to me for the last ten weeks of being honored and permitted
to stand in this place and preach for you. Thank you. I appreciate
it. What a message. That was such
a blessing. I'm so thankful I got to hear
that. Y'all better watch it, or I'll start preaching my guilt
right now. I'll keep my mouth shut. But I want to express our appreciation
so much for you and Dara being here for these last 10 weeks.
They won't be here for a couple of weeks. I know the next few
weeks, and they'll be back, you know, Lord willing, but they
won't be here, I know, for the next two weeks. But it has been
such a blessing in this church, and we're so grateful and thankful,
and I'm just, thank and praise the Lord for hearing what we
got to hear tonight. Praise God from whom all the
blessings flow. So thankful and grateful. What
a wonderful place to be. All these things are overwhelming,
aren't they? Rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, and everything give thanks to God. Faithful is he
that calleth you, who also will even call you. I love Solomon Grace. That's
the only guy Grace really is, Solomon Grace.