I've been preaching for a long, long time, and I have tried to improve on my presentation of the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. preach in such a way that God
will be glorified and His people will be blessed. But I've tried
to preach effectively and convincingly and preach for verdicts, for
verdicts, not just to present a Bible study. That's not too
difficult. but to present a message. And
I've tried to tell preachers who care to listen and who care
to learn to preach and improve their preaching. I've tried to
tell them some things that I think are helpful. And that is, in order to present
a message, you've got to live that message. You've got to put yourself into
that situation. It's like when a man preaches
on the cry of blind Bartimaeus, he's got to become Bartimaeus,
sitting there in the darkness and helplessness and hopelessness
and cast himself upon Christ alone. experience that and live
that, and when he does, then the people can enter into it.
And my subject this morning is one that I can experience and
enter into. What is your life? Because I'm
coming to the end of this life, and I know that, and it's real
to me. I've scarcely pass a day that
I don't give a lot of thought to this subject. And I want to
preach it in that way. I want to preach it as one who
has experienced what I'm trying to convey to you. And we'll start here with verse
13 of James 4. And the apostle says, Go to now
ye that say, Today or tomorrow, we'll go into such a city, and
we'll continue there a year, and we're going to buy and sell
and get gain. Now, he's not condemning that
as such. He's not condemning buying and
selling merchandise, nor the lawful practice of going into
a city to conduct one's business. He's not condemning that at all.
You men have to do that. You've got to carry on your business
to make a living. There's not a thing wrong with
going to a certain city and abiding there a certain time and making
business transactions. What he is saying here and what
he is rebuking here, he's rebuking us who go about any matter of
life. It doesn't matter whether it's
buying and selling or whatever it may be. but going about any
matter of life without any thought to the will of God, or considering
the uncertainty and frailty of human life. I'm going to a certain
city tomorrow, and I'm going to abide there a certain time.
I'm going to buy and sell and improve my business and come
home. Well, that's good for you to do that. But two things need
to be carefully considered. Is it the will of God for you
to go? Is it the will of God for you to conduct this business?
Is it the will of God for you to come home, prosper? And will
you even be able to go? Will you be alive tomorrow? That's
what it says. No consideration for the fact
that you may not even be alive tomorrow. Me and often, I've
said it, you have, we say it frequently. We say, now we're
going to go here, we're going to go there, and we're going
to do this, and we're going to do that. as if these days and
these things were in our power, and they're not in our power. Sometimes we talk as if we have
no dependence at all upon God, upon His purpose, upon His providence,
upon His will. And yet we live and move and
have our being in Him. Verse 14, listen, "'Whereas you
know not what shall be on the morrow, We can't foresee tomorrow, can
we? We don't know what's going to
happen today, let alone tomorrow. Therefore,
it's foolishness, it's pride to talk of what we're going to
do or where we're going without any reference to our dependence
on the Lord and dependence on His will. and his purpose and
his purpose. For he says, what is your life? What is this thing that you have,
this life? What is it? What is the nature
of this life? I tell you, he said, what it
is, how frail it is. It's even a vapor, a puff of
smoke. It's a mist that's visible for
a very little time. Listen. What is your life? It's
a vapor. It appears for a little time,
and then it vanishes away. When you come right down to it,
let me show you a psalm, Psalm 146. Psalm 146, verse 3. This is what he's referring to,
I believe. All of these New Testament scriptures
are reaching back into the Old Testament. He's referring, when
he says, what is your life, it's a vapor. You go outside on a
cold morning and breathe into the air and there's a vapor,
and it's gone. There for a moment, it's gone.
That's breath. All right, look at Psalm 146,
verse 3 and 4. Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there's no help, for his breath
goeth forth. He returns to his earth. That's
where he came from, the earth. It's his earth. It's his hole
in the ground. That's where he came from. And
he'll return to his earth. And in that very day, his thoughts
will perish. When his breath stops, his plotting
and planting and purposes and everything stops. That's when
his breath stops. Well, what is your life? It's
your breath. I stand here this morning with
all that God has given me, and you sit there with all that God's
given you, family, friends, all that we have, whatever we have.
And it all depends on one thing, a breath. It's every bit in the breath,
for when I stop breathing, it's all gone. And that's what he
supported in his life, the bread. That appeared for a little while
and then vanished away. Now verse 15. Boy, this is what we ought to
say. And I think every one of us stands rebuked for this. Instead
of saying, I'll go here today and there tomorrow, and I'll
do this and I'll do that, I'll improve my position in life,
I'll do all these things, instead of saying that, we ought to say
this, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or
that. And it's not just saying it. We can enter into some kind
of ritualism and form, precede everything we say with that.
It's not just saying it, it's believing it. It's believing it. It's having
that true feeling and thought in our hearts and it just coming
out because that's the way it is. It's the Lord's will. It's
the Lord's will. It should be said, the Lord willing,
we'll do this or that. This is the foundation, my friends. You know it, I know it, and condition
upon which I'd do anything. I wrote down in the bulletin.
Let's see how I worded this. I said the Lord willing, Brother
Bill Clark will be here November 20th, but I said just above that,
I will preach Thursday through Sunday in Alabama. I don't know
whether I'll preach Thursday through Sunday in Alabama or
not. I hope that I didn't write the
Lord willing on there, but the Lord willing, I'll preach Thursday
through Sunday in Alabama. That's the thing. It's by the
will and purpose and according to the providence of God that
we do anything. I want to show you how Paul said
this in 1 Corinthians 4. Turn to I Corinthians 4. I Corinthians 4, verse 19. Paul is talking about coming
to these people here. I Corinthians 4, 19. He says, I will come to you shortly,
if the Lord will. I'll come to you shortly, if
the Lord will, and will know not the speech of them which
are puffed up with the power, for the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power. I'll come to you, if the Lord
will." Hebrews, turn to Hebrews 6. This is just a way of life
with the Apostle Paul. Hebrews 6, verse 3. And he says,
And this will we do, if God permit. if God permits. Go back to verse
15 if you're on verse 16. Now, we ought to say, if the
Lord will, we'll live and do this or that. But now you rejoice in your boasting,
and all such boasting and rejoicing is evil. All of this planning
and boasting without without prayer and without consulting
the will of God and without reference to the will of God and the purpose
of God is sin. It's evil, for we're expressing
an independence of God. We're saying, I'm going to do
this, or I'm going to do that, and we're expressing, actually,
an independence of God. We're taking too much upon ourselves.
The Lord willing, I'll do this, I'll do that. But what is your
life? It's in His hands, the paper. And I want to go back
to that question. That's what I want to deal with.
Verse 14, "...you know not what shall be on the morrow, for what
is your life?" If some young person were to ask me, well,
preacher, you've lived almost 70 years, and sum it up, what
is life? What is life? Well, I'd sum it
up in this way. Number one, it's short. It's
short. Let me show you some Scripture.
Turn to Job 19. I want you to just look at these
Scriptures, how the writers of Scripture describe this human
life. First of all, it's short. He
says in Job 19, verse 25, Job, That's the wrong scripture. Anyway,
he says this, my life, I can't find the one, that's the wrong
one. But he says my life is swifter
than a post. Swifter than a post. What is
a post? What's a runner? It's a person
that delivers a message. Y'all talk about the post years
ago when the out west when they had the fellas
that delivered the mail. They rode their horses to this
post and got a fresh horse, rode to the next post, got a fresh
horse, rode to the next post. They never paused. They just
went all the time, just running with that message. And that's
what Job says, my life is, it's swifter than a post. And he says
also that my days are like swift. Job 9, that's where it is, Job
9. Job 9, verse 20. 26. Job 9 verse 25 says, My days
are swifter than a post. They flee away. They flee away. And verse 26 says, And they're
passed away as a swift ship in full sail. Somebody said, Headed
home, the wind bears the ship along, and it never stops until
it reaches the harbor. And then next, he says in that
verse 26, he said, My life, my days, a swifter than a post,
a runner with a mail. It passed as a swift ship on
full sail, the wind taking it to the harbor, and then as an
eagle that hasteth to the prey." This is not an eagle that's sitting
on a nest. This is not an eagle that's just
drifting along with the breeze, you know, flying through the
air. My days are like the eagle that's floating around up there
and he spots a rabbit. Down he goes, quickly. That's how fast my life is. It's
short. It's swifter than an eagle that
hasteth to the prey. And then turn to Job 7, back
a page or two, Job 7, verse 6. He says, my life, Job 7, verse
6, my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
Job 7, verse 6, and are spent without hope. We stopped in Mexico
beside the road one time to look at some blankets and shawls and
things that the women were making. And this little lady was sitting
down by an old-fashioned weaver's shuttle. and uh... we've got a blanket itself and
uh... she was moving with her hands
and feet that shuttle to move in the parade and it was just
line like this you know issue of making that making that blanket
and that's what joe was saying in my day faster than a weaver
shop that's where they go go there the blankets faster than
that here's another one of the first Job 7, there, verse 7. Verse 6 says, My days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle. Verse 7, Oh, remember that my
life is wind. Thine eyes shall no more see
good. The eye of him that hath seen
me shall see me no more. Thine eyes are upon me, and I
am not. Here's what he's saying here.
My life is like the wind. We're standing outside in a place
calm, and then suddenly, there's a wind that comes up and blows
everything. You grab your hat, and you grab
your jacket, and the wind blows strong and hard. It's felt, it's
heard, it stirs up the leaves, it stirs up the dust, and then
just as suddenly as it came, it's still. And it's gone. And he said, that's the way my
life is, like the wind. And then, down here in verse
8, the eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more, but
thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. They come by to view my
body after I'm gone, and they look upon me, but I'm not there. Gone. That's what I'd say, number one,
about life. It's short. It's so short. And then secondly,
I'd say it's uncertain. It's uncertain. You know, it says in verse 14 here, "...whereas
you know not what shall be on the morrow." What is your life?
It's even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanish
away. You rise up in the morning. I've seen this many times, especially
down in Cherokee. in the mountains, you rise up
in the morning and look out, there's a mist everywhere. There's a mist all around, it's
hanging up on the ground and between the mountains and it's
out there and then the sun comes out and the mist begins to lift
and after a while it's gone. And that's the way life is, the
vapor, the mist, it's here, gone. Turn to Ecclesiastes 6. Here's another scripture. This,
all the way through God's Word, is talking about life is uncertain. In Ecclesiastes 6, verse 12,
look at this. Uncertain. Ecclesiastes 6, verse
12, "...for who knoweth what is good for man in this life?"
all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow."
A shadow. What's more uncertain, temporary,
frail than a shadow? There's not much substance to
a shadow. That's life. So uncertain. And here's a beautiful
picture out over here in Isaiah. I want you to turn to this, Isaiah
chapter 38. Isaiah 38 verse 12. Listen to this. Isaiah 38 verse 12. Mine eye,
mine age, Isaiah 38, my age is departed and removed from me
as a shepherd's tent. I cut off like a weaver my life. He will cut me off. with pining
sickness. From day even to night wilt thou
make an end of me. My life is like a shepherd's
tent." I tell you the picture I get here. A shepherd is taking
his flock to find clover grass. He leads them over the side of
the mountain. And here he comes to a beautiful
place, grass everywhere, clover everywhere. and he just turns
his sheep out there to graze. And he has a little old piece
of canvas, a tent, just a piece of canvas, and he goes over there
and puts him a stick here and a stick there and there and there.
He puts that piece of canvas over it, and then he lies down
under that little shepherd's tent and watches them graze. He's not there for long. He doesn't
build a fence around it. He doesn't take a lease on that
property. He doesn't build a fortress to
protect it. He won't be there very long.
He just built his tent for that time. And then when the sheep
move on, he gathers up his tent and moves away. And that's what
Paul said in Corinthians. He said, when this frail tabernacle,
this tent, be removed, we have a building of God, a house, not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So what is life? It's short. It's uncertain. It's frail as a shadow. It's
as frail and temporary as a shepherd's tent. And Isaiah said, just two
pages over, Isaiah 40, verse 6, the boy said, cry, and he
said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass. Just grass,
and all the goodliness, the glory of the flesh is as the flower
of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of God bloweth upon it. Surely the
people is grass. Thirdly, I'd say this. What is
life? What is your life? It's short. Secondly, it's uncertain. It's so frail it can be taken
out in a moment. It's always changing. Always
changing. The songwriters said it this
way. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day. Earth's
joys grow dim. All glory, earth's glory, fades
away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O thou that changest not, abide
with me. I want to show you a few words
now that show us how life changes. Now, I picked up the paper this
morning and I read with a degree of sadness a denouncement by
former President Reagan in which he declared that he now has Alzheimer's
disease and that he's looking for some difficult days. on his
wife and family and friends. And he regretted that they're
going to have to be put through this because his bodily functions
are all good, except his mind is gone. And I thought, this
is life, though. This is the way it is. Let's
face it. It's changing. It's changing
all the time. And after a while, this man who
was so energetic and so brilliant elected president of the United
States, world leader, all these things, in just a few months
probably will not even know his name. You think about it. Won't even know his name. Charles
Spurgeon told this story. He said the man, back in those
days, some more brilliant young people were tutored They had
a tutor and a headmaster. They went to private academies
under a certain person. They didn't go to a public school
where they had all the different teachers. They had a private
school or a headmaster, a tutor, a man who taught them, or a woman. Well, Mr. Spurgeon said there
was a man, he said, who taught me all that secularly I learned. I learned from this man. And
he called his name, I forget his name. But he lived in that
community where Spurgeon went to school under this man. And
he said, one of the saddest days of my life was when I stood in
his yard with other neighbors and saw the police come to take
him away. And they put handcuffs on him.
and let him out to the wagon to take him away because his
mind was totally gone. He said he was such a brilliant
man, such a... He taught me all that I knew
in the secular field, but I watched him handcuff him and take him
away. His mind was gone. I'll tell
you, over there in Genesis 49, Genesis 49, this is the reason
he said We say, I'm going to do this
and do that, and we know not what shall be tomorrow. What
we ought to say is, the Lord willing, the Lord willing will
do this or that, the Lord willing. It's His providence and His purpose
for this life. Jacob said in Genesis 47, 9,
is a pilgrimage. It's a, that's what he called
it, a journey, a journey. Isn't that what a pilgrimage
is? Yeah, in Genesis 47 verse 9,
listen. Jacob said to Pharaoh that it's
the end of his life. He's an old man now. And he said
to Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Fear and evil have been the days
of the years of my life, have the days of the years of my life
have been. It's a pilgrimage. Sometimes it's on the mountain,
sometimes in the valley. Sometimes it's by the rivers,
and sometimes it's through the hot burning sun. And sometimes
it's in the darkness, and sometimes in the sunlight. And sometimes
it's in deep clover, and sometimes it's in the dry desert. Sometimes
it's walking with friends, sometimes it's encounter with enemies. Sometimes it's in health, and
sometimes it's in sickness. Sometimes it's in wealth, and
sometimes it's in poverty. But it's changing. It's not the
same. And it's impossible to keep it
the same. Impossible. Here's another verse
in Psalm 90. Turn over, let's look at this
one. What is your life? In Psalm 90, it's a changing
thing. It's short. It's uncertain, it's
changing. Psalm 90 verse 9, listen. For all our days are passed away
in thy wrath, we spend our years as a tale that's told. What's
history? Somebody said history is the
story of people, their lives, and the events of their lives
in the form of a tale, a story that's told, always changing every year. And
that's what my life is, is a tale that's told. And it's almost
the last chapter. We go through these chapters
and you come to the last one. And it's a tale that's told.
I'll tell you this. If I had my way, and I learned
some things through the years, if I had my way, I'd change this
funeral business that we carry on today. I'd change it. I'd
tell you what I'd do if I had my way. I'd make a funeral what
it ought to be. It's not a preaching service.
It's a memorial service. I hear people say, and this is,
to me, is wrong. But there's nothing I can do
about it. I can't book City Hall or traditions of this day. I booked one here and got to
have a night funeral service just so everybody could come.
But here's what I'll do. A funeral is a memorial service.
I'm going to take somebody and use it as an example. I'll just
take Brother Cecil, this man here. And I hear people say,
when I don't mention the deceased, just preach the gospel. I'm preaching
the gospel now. You're all here hearing the gospel.
When this man dies and lies here, and if I'm still alive to have
the funeral, what I think we ought to do is tell the story
of this man's life. A tale to tell. These people
who pass away, our friends and our loved ones, have a story
to tell. story, a life lived, lives touched,
lives blessed, work done, service for God and men. Honor them. The Scripture says give honor
to whom honors do, tribute to whom tributes do, praise to whom
praises do. How can we ignore them? I preached
my mother's funeral here and I spent 15, 20 minutes talking
about what a good mama she was. She's a good mother, fine mother. And I just think that ought to
be done. I think that, well, a tale that's told. My life is
a tale that's told. Don't ignore a life that's been
lived and a service that's been rendered and a heart that's been
given. Tell people about it. We're going
to praise men. Why not? Why not? I tell you, I'm a debtor to a
lot of people. I'm a debtor, and I think debts
ought to be paid. Oh, no man anything but to love
one another, thank one another. That's right. Now, you tell that
right now when you tell it, but I believe that when a person
leaves here, that when we come together in a memorial service
to pay tribute, I believe we ought to pay tribute. I believe
we should. I believe that we ought to spend
some time talking about And how blessed it is and how wonderful
it is, a tale that's told. A tale that's told. And then I tell the young people
this, life is short, it's uncertain, it's changing. Forever changes. And it's full of trouble. It's
full of trouble. That's what Job said in Job 14,
verse 1. That's what he said. I want you
to turn there because I want to point out a couple of things
here. Job 14.1. Man that is born a
woman is a few days short, uncertain, and full of trouble, full of
heartache. Our Lord said in this world you'll
have tribulation and trouble and sorrow and heartache. Because this is not our home,
this is not our happiness, this is not our heaven. This is just
a world of sin, condemnation, a few days and full of trouble. Now watch this, and I'll close
with this. Man cometh forth like a flower. I'm talking now about
the people of God. They're like flowers. First of
all, a flower is planted by somebody. The flower's planted. And we're
planted by the Lord. We're the Lord's planting in
the Lord's garden. Our Lord Jesus said, Every plant
that my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.
Rooted up. But He plants His children. Isaiah
61 says we're the Lord's planting. And then another thing about
this flower, it has its root in the water of life. He shall
be like a tree planted by the waters of life, living waters
that brings forth his fruit in his season. And then this flower
grows planted by the Master, planted by the waters, and it
grows in the Master's garden. It's first a tender bud, and
then it's the mature plant, and it grows there amid the wind
and the rain and the cold and the heat that keeps on growing,
grows to maturity in the master's garden. And then when he's pleased,
he knows when, when he's pleased, he'll come and cut it and take
it into the house. He knows when to cut it. He knows
how to cut it. And he takes it into the house.
And then that flower has a seed. It'll grow again. That will. It'll grow again. That's what
Job said over here. Turn one page, Job 14. It says
in verse 14, If a man dies, shall he live again? Shall he live
again? Ah, yes. Yes, he'll live again. The man die, shall he live again.
All the days of my appointed time will I wait, will I wait
till my change cometh. Thou shalt call, and I will answer
thee. Thou wilt have the desire to
the work of thine hands." Yeah, it'll live again. The corn of
wheat is put in the ground, and it lives again. There was an
old preacher by the name of Durham who lived in Scotland. many years
ago. He's the author of several fine
books on Solomon's Song, the Song of Solomon. And this dear
brother, a few days before he died, wrote to a friend, and
this is what he wrote. I thought this was a good testimony
with which to end this message. He wrote to a friend, and he
said, My dear brother, for all that I have written or preached
or done, through the years of my life. There's one scripture
which I can remember and which I hold to at this time. John
6, verse 37. Turn over there with me. John
6, verse 37, through verse 40, verse 40. John 6, verse 37. This is the scripture he quoted. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone that seeeth the Son and believeth on him
may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the last
day." And he said, Dear brother, all
of my experiences and my knowledge that I have acquired throughout
this life, which may lead me to think I'm important or somebody
in this world, are a small account when you come to die. For death
reveals the truth about us. Death blows away the chaff that
we thought was wheat. When a person comes to die, he
must look as a sinner to the mercy of God. He must look as
a sinner to the blood of Christ and to the promise of the gospel.
He must cling with all of his heart to the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus as a guilty sinner. For without the sovereign mercy
of God, we will all sink into shame and condemnation. When
the children of God die, they die believing God for mercy. You see, my friend, dying men
have no use for shame, form, or flimsy hypocrisy. Dying men
want reality. They want the sinner's Savior.
They want a salvation that saves. They want the mercy of God, your
obedient servant. Isn't that good? What is your life? It's a vapor
that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. So teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.