I Would Not Have You to Be Ignorant

Q: What does the Bible say about spiritual ignorance?

The Bible warns against spiritual ignorance, emphasizing that one can be knowledgeable in worldly matters yet remain ignorant of God's saving grace. Spiritual ignorance is a significant theme in the Bible, highlighted by the Apostle Paul, who himself admitted to being ignorant of God's grace prior to his conversion. In 1 Timothy 1:13, Paul describes himself as a blasphemer and persecutor, acknowledging that despite his intellectual prowess, he was misled in spiritual matters. Moreover, 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 points out that even the wise rulers of the world were ignorant of the divine wisdom that led to Christ's crucifixion. Such ignorance stems from natural depravity, Satan's influence, indifference, religious tradition, and pride, which blinds individuals to the truth of God's Word and the gospel of Christ.

Q: How do we know God's righteousness is through Christ?

God's righteousness is established in Christ, who fulfilled the law and provided redemption through His obedience and sacrifice. The righteousness of God is a central tenet of the Christian faith, firmly rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:3 speaks of the ignorance of the Israelites, who sought to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to the righteousness provided by God through Christ. As demonstrated in Romans 5:19, through Christ’s obedience, many are made righteous. This concept is further reinforced in 2 Corinthians 5:21, which states that Christ was made sin for us, enabling us to become the righteousness of God in Him. Understanding this is crucial, as it emphasizes that human efforts to achieve righteousness are futile, and true righteousness is found solely in faith in Christ’s finished work.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand the providence of God?

Understanding God’s providence helps Christians trust in His control and purpose, especially during trials and hardships. The providence of God is vital to the Christian faith, as it assures believers that all events, including hardships and challenges, are under His sovereign control. Romans 8:28 reassures us that all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. The sermon illustrates this point through several examples, including the story of God using circumstances for the gospel's advancement. Recognizing God's providential hand can encourage believers during times of struggle, reminding them that even painful experiences can serve a greater purpose in the unfolding of God's plan. Trusting in God's providence allows Christians to navigate life’s complexities with hope and assurance.

Q: What does the Bible teach about death for believers?

The Bible teaches that death for believers is not a loss but a gain, leading to eternal life with Christ. Biblical teaching clearly reveals that for believers, death signifies a transition rather than an end. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Paul encourages believers not to grieve like those without hope, as death for the Christian leads to eternal union with Christ. This perspective is echoed in Philippians 1:21, where Paul expresses that to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Therefore, death is portrayed as a graduation into the full presence of the Lord, offering comfort amidst sorrow. Emphasizing this truth helps believers confront mortality with hope and vibrant expectation, assuring them of their ultimate victory over death through Christ.

Let's open our Bibles now to
the book of 1 Timothy. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from 1 Timothy 1 on the subject, I would not have
you to be ignorant. I would not have you to be ignorant. Now, call your attention to verse
13. a blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious,
ignorant, and an unbeliever. Now, most people consider it
to be a great insult to be called ignorant. Ignorant. It's not nice to tell a man he's
ignorant. He won't take to it kindly. Folks don't like to be called
ignorant. They don't take too kindly to
that. But now wait a minute, here's the chief apostle, the
chief apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a man who was
schooled at the feet of the chief professor of his day. Here's
one of the smartest men of that generation. considered by everyone
to be brilliant in every respect. The Apostle Paul, that's right,
brilliant. In fact, one of the government
officials before whom Paul was brought, he said, I'll tell you
what's wrong with you. This is in the book of Acts.
He said, you've studied so much, you've lost your mind. Isn't
that what he said? That was a backhand compliment, because it's better
to be called crazy than ignorant. I'd rather be called crazy than
ignorant. Ignorant. And that's what that
man said, you just, much learning's made you mad. That's exactly
what he said. He was held in the highest esteem,
and yet he says, I was ignorant. He didn't hesitate to admit it.
He said, I was ignorant. I was a blasphemer, a religious
blasphemer. Apostle Paul never took, he never
did deliberately, openly use the name of Elohim in vain. You
can bet your boots on that. But he said I was a blasphemer
because I didn't recognize him and praise him in Christ. That's
what he's saying. You can be the cleanest mouthfeller
in town and still take God's name in vain if you don't give
him the right glory. I was injurious. Here was a man who was praying,
fasting, tithing, giving alms. but was injuring the kingdom
of God, injurious to the name of Christ. Cleanest liver in
town. He said, I was blameless. But
he was injurious, because he was ignorant. He was ignorant. You see, now listen to me, don't
get offended. A man can be very intelligent
in matters of the world, and yet be totally ignorant in spiritual even in this congregation right
here. There may be a man or woman here
that has half a dozen degrees and rightly earned, brilliant
in things of the world, brilliant in science, brilliant in math,
brilliant in education, brilliant in business, brilliant in administration,
and yet ignorant. This is what Paul was. You see
what I'm trying to show you? He was brilliant, Dan, brilliant
man, genius! But he sounds ignorant. Let me show you that. Turn to
1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 2. Now, see if that's not what this
is saying. A man may be wise and brilliant in things of this
world, and yet be ignorant in matters pertaining to God. 1
Corinthians 2, look at verse 7. We speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes, these are rulers, these are leaders, princes, kings,
of this world knew. They were ignorant. For had they
known this wisdom, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. That makes sense, doesn't it?
My soul, that's plain as the nose on your face. These were
princes, rulers, leaders, statesmen, brilliant men in things of the
world, built pyramids and cities and all of these things, made
medals. But they were ignorant. They took the medals that they
made and drove it into the hands of the Son of God. The man was
brilliant to mine the ore, he was brilliant to burn and make
the steel, he was brilliant to fashion a pawn on it, make a
hammer, but he took it in his stupidity and ignorance and crucified
the Son of God! That's ignorance! That's what
I'm saying. Then secondly, a man can be knowledgeable
in the Bible. He can be very knowledgeable
in the Bible, in the things of religion, in the laws and history
and, yea, even doctrines, and be totally ignorant of God's
saving grace in Christ Jesus. This man was. Turn to Philippians
chapter 3. Now listen to him. This man,
he knew God was sovereign. He knew there was one God. He
knew God created the world. He knew who the first king of
Israel was. He knew who the second king was.
He knew who the ninth king was, I'll bet you part about. He knew
how the tabernacle was constructed, every knot tied and every veil. He knew the figures on the veil.
I'll bet you anything he knew everything about that tabernacle
this man Saul of Tarsus. He was a personal friend of the
high priest. He says here in Philippians 3,
verse 4, verse 4, Though I might have confidence in this flesh,
if any man, any other man, thinks he has whereof he can trust in
the flesh, I more. I was circumcised the eighth
day of the stop of Israel. of the tribe of Benjamin. I was
a Hebrew of Hebrews as touching the law and religion of Pharisee,
a member of the Sanhedrin, concerning Zeal, persecuting the Church,
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. So I'm saying this, a man can
be literally a genius in things of the world and be ignorant. in spiritual matters. And a man
can be trained and taught and terribly sincere in the things
of the Bible and still be ignorant. So please understand what I'm
saying, and I want you to turn back to 1 Corinthians 2 again.
Please understand what I'm saying. I'm saying there's flesh and
the wisdom of flesh and the knowledge of flesh, there is and the wisdom
of the Spirit. Please understand, I'm saying
there's a knowledge of this world. There are people who can wire
this building and you can go away and leave them
here with some wires and pliers and light fixtures and come back
a few days later and they'll have it looking like this, but
they couldn't show you how God saved the sinner. Then there are preachers and
Bible teachers who can take you through the history of the Old
Testament and the history of Israel and talk about prophecy
and things to come and all this sort of thing, who couldn't show
you how God saved the sinner, too. 1 Corinthians 2, listen
to verse 12. Now, we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we may know the things that are freely given us of God. Which
things also we speak not in words, not in the words which man's
wisdom teaches, that's another wisdom, but which the Holy Ghost
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. It's just another area. Now this
ignorance, this ignorance, this spiritual ignorance, will you
listen to me a moment, I'll be brief on this point. But it can
be attributed to several things. The fact that a man is spiritually
ignorant. How'd he get in that state? If
he's got a good mind in material things and physical things and
weary things, then how'd he get so stupid and so ignorant in
spiritual matters? Why and how? Would you accept
five reasons? The first one is his natural
depravity and deadness. We're dead in sin. We're born
in sin. We're conceived in sin. We're
shaped in iniquity. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, they're foolishness to him, neither can he know them,
they're spiritually understood, and he's not spiritual, he's
flesh. You see, that's the first reason
why you have to be quick in who we're dead. in trespasses and
sin. Your sins have separated you
and God. What I'm saying simply is this,
that that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And the reason
the natural man does not understand spiritual truth is his flesh. Let me give you an example. You
children, you know how much I love you and appreciate you, but facts
are facts. You can go over at school and they can sing a little
stupid silly song. about the teachers, about the
principal, about how you hate school and all these things.
It can have ten verses and you'll learn every one of them in one
day. And come home and sing them. But you get back here and we
try to teach you a Bible verse, and you can't learn it. And it
won't have over ten words. And you struggle and struggle
and struggle to learn a sentence. That's not true, Sheila. Learn
a Bible verse. But sing them a little silly
song and they learn it by heart. And I know things now, I learned
when I was six years old. That's flesh. See, we're born that way. We're
born with the capacity to lay hold on fleshly things, but not
spiritual things. And the second reason is Satan's
influence. Satan's influence, that's right.
If our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in whom
the God of this world hath blinded their minds." He'll give you
something else to play with. He's blinded. How does he blind
people? He blinds people by distracting
them. Like our Lord said, the sower
went forth to sow, and he sowed the seed, and it fell on fallow
ground, and the birds came quickly and picked it up before it could
take root. And that's the way Satan will
keep you occupied, distracted. And then the third reason for
spiritual ignorance is this, indifference. Just plain indifference. Our Lord said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. You won't do it. Old Jerusalem,
he stood on the mountain and said, how oft would I have gathered
thee? But you would not. just wouldn't do it. Well, that's
all right. Indifference. Just plain old indifference.
All right, the fourth thing to which we can attribute this spiritual
ignorance, today especially, is religious tradition. Men just
won't give up their tradition. Now you'd be amazed at how strong
this tradition is. We talk about the old Jews and
their tradition. We got it as bad today. It's
just as bad in this day as it was then. Men grow up as Catholics, and
they're not going to hear anybody else. Or men and women grow up
as Methodists, and they're not going to hear anybody else. They're
Methodists. Methodist, Methodist is my belief. I'll just tell you why. My mother
and father were Methodists, and I'll be a Methodist till I die.
That's an old song I used to hear when I was six years old. And Baptists, landmark Baptists,
Southern Baptists, United Baptists, Hardshell Baptists, all kind
of Baptists, we're not going to hear anything else. Just like
that old boy that our Lord healed. He'd been lying on that cot,
that bed, for thirty-eight years. Never had walked, everybody knew
him, he was a town beggar, and our Lord came by and healed him,
told him to take up his bed and walk. And he picked up and put
it on his shoulders and started walking down the street with
that bed, and one of those religious fellas came, and he didn't see
the miracle. He didn't see the man that never
walked walking. He didn't see the impossibility
of this man carrying his bed that used to lie on it. He said,
hey, it's the Sabbath day, you're not supposed to carry your bed.
Now think about it. That's blind now. That is blind. And that's the way we men are
today. I'm just not going to hear anybody
because they're not my brand. And then the fifth reason is
pride. Oh, we're arrogant, haughty,
proud, self-centered. I want to read you a psalm, Psalm
31. I want you to look over here.
Oh, pride, pride, pride. God said seven things I hate,
and the first one's pride. He said, pride goeth before destruction. Psalm 31, Psalm 31, pride goeth
before destruction. You're so proud, oh, God help
you. Like old Barney used to say,
God have mercy, but he ain't going to. Arrogant, proud. Psalm 3119,
listen. Oh, how great is thy goodness,
Psalm 3119, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which
thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons
of men. But thou shalt hide them in the
secret of thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep
them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongue." He's going
to just flat hide them, hide his people and hide his words
and hide his gospel from the pride of man. Our gospel be hid,
hid. Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the prudent. and reveal them to babies. Oh, may we, by God's grace, be
enabled to escape, escape these hindrances and be taught of God. You know, several times Paul
says, I would not have you to be ignorant. I want to point
out some of these things now, and you can, about five or six
of them, I'll give them to you briefly. Let's see if we can do away with
some of this ignorance with which we are born and bred and which
we protect with our pride and unwillingness and indifference.
1 Corinthians 10. Brethren, several times Paul
says, I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to
be ignorant. Moreover, brethren, 1 Corinthians 10.1, I would not
have you, I would not that you should be ignorant. how that all of our fathers were
under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and were all baptized
under Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the
same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ. May God teach us that we should
not be ignorant. concerning the Old Testament
writings and types and pictures and shadows. All of these things
are Christ. Christ Jesus, that's right, that's
right. He takes us over there, here in this scripture, and he
says, see that rock, that rock Moses smote, that rock that gave
forth the water, water to supply, drink, and bath water and cooking
water, and water for the flocks and the herds and the cows, enough
for two and a half million people out of one rock, sufficient. That rock was Christ. And that
brayhead that came from heaven and appeared on the ground every
morning, they went out and gathered, that manna was Christ. And that
tabernacle in the wilderness, erected for worship and sacrifices,
where God met men and men met God, that tabernacle is Christ.
And that old high priest going into the Holy of Holies with
the incense and the blood to sprinkle on the mercy seat, that
tabernacle is Christ, that priest is Christ, that incense is the
prayers of Christ, that blood is the blood of Christ, and that
mercy seat is the mercy of Christ. It's all Christ Jesus. All Christ. The atonement is Christ. That's
Passover. Christ, our Passover. Don't be
ignorant of this. I would not have you to be ignorant
that that rock was Christ. All right, let's look at another. Romans 10. Romans 10. And you know that's what our
Lord did, I preached recently here, for those disciples, those
depressed, despairing disciples on the road to Emmaus. He took them back to Moses, right
there in Genesis, the beginning, the word Genesis in that beginning,
and taught them the things concerning himself. We're not ignorant of
those things, are we? That rock is Christ. That Passover
was Christ. God never saved people in any
way but by Christ. All right, look at this, Romans
10. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. I bear them record. They have
a zeal of God. They have some interest in God.
They talk about God, but it's not according to knowledge. For
they're ignorant. They're ignorant of God's righteousness. They're ignorant of God's righteousness,
and they're going about to establish their own righteousness. And
in their ignorance, they have not submitted themselves to God's
righteousness, but Christ. Christ is the righteousness of
God. Christ is the goal of the law. Christ is the objective of the
law. Christ is the consummation of
the law for righteousness to everyone, not that work it, labor
it, but that believe it. Don't be ignorant of that. Could
I say three things? God demands perfection. Is that
true? God demands perfection. A man is debtor to do the whole
law, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
written in the book of the law to do them. Second, we don't
have perfection. We don't even come close. In
fact, if you want the truth of the matter, the best thing we
have is filthy rags. That's how far off we are from
righteousness, that even our righteousness is a filthy rag.
We're not at zero, we're at sub-zero. We're not even in the game. We're
not at the starting line, Mike. We're behind it. We're not even
in the stands. Even our righteousness is a filthy
rag. That's true. Thirdly, God has
provided a righteousness, a holiness. Could I show it to you from the
scripture? Galatians 4. And I thought as I sat here and
worked on this message, well, just show it to them from the
scriptures. Show it to yourself and to the
people. The righteousness of God. Here it is. Righteousness is holiness, acceptance,
perfection. Galatians 4.4. But when the fulness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. that we might receive the adoption
of sons. That's why his son came. He sent
his son for that purpose. Now watch this, Romans 5. Come back to Romans 5.19. That's
why he sent him, that folks under the law, guilty, offenders, transgressors,
might be redeemed, might be accepted. That's why he sent him. Romans
5.19. As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made what? Righteous. Who is this one? It's the one he sent. What did
the one he sent do? He obeyed the law. Okay? That we might be righteous. Alright,
here's the third scripture now. 2 Corinthians 5. Now watch this.
2 Corinthians 5. Now this is as plain as I can
make it. Is this simple enough, Gerald? You told me I was getting
simple in my preaching. In my preaching, folks! All right, 2 Corinthians 5.21.
2 Corinthians 5.21. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He died. There it is. That's the plainest I can make.
But don't be ignorant concerning the righteousness of the law.
God sent his son to redeem people who were under the law. And he
obeyed it, and by his obedience we're righteous. He took our
sins and died, and by his death we're righteous. That's the righteousness
of God. Don't be ignorant. All right,
here's the third one, quickly, about ignorance. Turn to 2 Corinthians
2. 2 Corinthians 2. You're going to learn something
here if you haven't already learned it, and probably have already
learned it. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 10. To whom you forgive anything,
I forgive also. For if I forgave anything, to
whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of
Christ. lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are
not ignorant of his devices. We are not ignorant. I'm not ignorant of the Old Testament
types, that's Christ. I'm not ignorant of God's righteousness,
that's Christ. And I'm not ignorant of Satan's
devices. I don't claim to know a lot about
Satan. I don't claim to know a lot about demons and principalities
and rulers of the darkness, and furthermore, I'm not going to
study them either. And I advise you not to. There was a young preacher years
ago that got interested in demonology. I could give a name. Years ago. He got interested in demonology. He bought every book on demonology.
He studied every scripture on demons. He got talking to people
about demons. He got interested in demon possession. And he wound up sitting in his
study, folks talking to him. And there were no folks there.
And it took him away. And he never recovered. So I
advise you, don't study the Antichrist, study Christ. Don't play with
demons. You know, even the angel wouldn't
rebuke Satan. The angel Gabriel. Was Gabriel,
when Satan wanted to argue with him over the body of Moses, whether
that's the law of Moses or literal bodies, not the argument. But
that angel said, the Lord rebukes thee, Satan. I'm not having anything
to do with you. I turn you over to him. And I
advise you to do the same thing. So I don't have anything I don't
claim to have much, but I do know more about Satan than these
religious folks that keep talking about him. I know more about
him. I hear them talking about Satan's
attacks on my finances. He ain't got much to battle against,
I tell you that. On my body, and on my plans,
and on my promotions. You hear all that stuff, Satan's
attacking your finances, and Satan's attacking your body.
Let me tell you something, and get this now, don't be ignorant
of this. Satan's chief enemy is not you. You could matter
less to Satan. We ain't that big. Satan's not too interested in
you, Tom. He really's not. Me either. His chief enemy is
the Lord Jesus Christ. And Satan's great objective,
where you're concerned, or I'm concerned, or this church is
concerned, is to take our minds away from Christ and his gospel
and the simplicity of Christ. I'm telling you the truth. That's
right. You know what, John? You see, his chief enemy is Christ. He's not so much concerned with
us, Turn to 2 Corinthians 11. Let me show you something here.
Accept as he can take us away from Christ, from the simplicity
of Christ, from the gospel of Christ, from the worship of Christ,
from the glory of Christ. If he can do that, he'll do it
with any means. Not just sickness, but prosperity. That's right. Not just failure,
but success. Not just things, but sensual
things. He'll do anything. But his objective
is not to defeat you, it's to defeat Christ. That's when our Lord turned to
Peter. Peter said, Christ talked about going to the cross, and
Peter said, Not so. He said, Now, you get behind me, Satan.
You save us not the things of God. 2 Corinthians 11, look here
at verse 1. Would the God, you could bear
with me a little in my folly, and indeed you do bear with me. I'm jealous over you with godly
jealousy. I've espoused you to one husband,
Christ, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
But I fear, what are you afraid of, Paul, lest by any means,
as the serpent, Satan, beguiled Eve through his craftiness and
subtlety, your mind should be corrupted from what? the simplicity
that is in Christ, the grace that is in Christ, the mercy
that's in Christ, the salvation that's in Christ. That's all
Satan's interested in. Verse 4, For if he that cometh,
and he will, preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
and you receive another spirit, which we have not received, or
another gospel, which you've not accepted, you might well
bear with me, that word is there. All right, quickly, let me show
you something there. 1 Corinthians 12. I'll try to hasten. 1 Corinthians
12. Listen to this. This is interesting.
1 Corinthians 12.1. 1 Corinthians 12.1. Now, brethren, concerning spiritual
gifts, I would not have you ignorant. I don't want you to be ignorant
now about spiritual gifts. Will you listen to me a moment?
A lot of people today in religion are taken up with what's called
spiritual gifts, the nine gifts of 1 Corinthians, chapter 12,
right here. Taken up with tongues and healing
and interpretations and prophecies and a word of knowledge and so
forth. These special gifts and miracles
were real. Men were healed. Folks were raised
from the dead. People did hear the gospel in
their own tongues and languages. That's so, okay? Given, that's
true. Absolutely true. These gifts always served a gospel
purpose. They were not play-pretties,
and when men made them so, they violated these things. That's
what he's talking about right here. They were not play-pretties. They were not astounding things
to fascinate people with. These gifts and miracles God
always used to bear witness of Christ. John 5.36, our Lord said, The
works that I do bear witness of me. Christ did the miracles and they
bore witness of him. Turn to Hebrews 2. Also, the gifts and miracles
of the apostles did the same thing. They bore witness to the
authenticity and accuracy of these men's gospel and message.
Hebrews 2, verse 3. Listen. How shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him?
Who were they? the apostles, the early believers,
right? God also bearing them witness,
both with signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of
the Holy Ghost according to His will. You see that? It's just like this thing of
Satan, and these religious fellows just get to name Satan in one
while Satan's program, passion, objective, enemy is Christ and
the gospel. The gifts with which people are
enamored and charmed and fascinated were given by God in these early
days as a witness for Christ. and a witness and credentials
that these men who had not the scriptures, that is, the New
Testament, might be heard. Most of the people today don't
have these gifts that claim to, they're playing with them. But
these signs and miracles and wonders were not for believers,
they were for unbelievers. Let me show you that in 1 Corinthians
14, turn over there a minute. These tongues and gifts were
witnesses of Christ, but not for the believer. The believer
doesn't need to see a miracle to know Christ lives. He lives
in his heart. I don't need proof that there's
a God. I don't need proof that Christ
heals. Of course he heals. 1 Corinthians
14, verse 22, wherefore tongues are for a sign, that's what I
said, they're for a sign, they're witness, not to them that believe,
but to them who don't believe. But
preaching serves not them that believe not, preaching serves
them that believe. That's so clear to me. I don't need to speak in tongues
to prove I'm baptized with and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Signs are not for believers, they're for unbelievers. If you
need some kind of sign, you're an unbeliever. Preaching is for
believers. But unbelievers don't want preaching,
they want signs. So don't be ignorant. And John
did no miracle at all. That's found in John 10.41. John the Baptist never performed
a miracle. Not once. It's not by miracles that men
come to God anyway, it's by the preaching of the gospel. Abraham told a man in hell who
said, Send a man back from the dead, and my brothers will believe.
He said, They won't believe. If they believe not the scriptures,
they won't believe one of those from the dead. Turn to Psalm
73. I must give you this because
we need this right here. Psalm 73, verse 21. Psalm 73, 21. It says, David's writing here,
My heart was grieved, thus my heart was grieved. Psalm 73,
21. And I was pricked in my reins,
so foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
What was David's problem? We'll turn back to verse 2. Same song. As for me, my feet
were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. I was envious
at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. There
are no bands in their depth, their strength is firm. They
are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like
other men. David's standing here looking
at the wicked, and they're having an easy life, and he's a believer
and he's having a hard time. And he said, I was envious of
them, and that's ignorance. Ignorance of what? God's providence. Let's don't be ignorant of God's
providence. Don't be ignorant. The scripture
speaks often of the trying of our faith. God's going to try
our faith. I was down in Pikeville preaching Thursday
and a man came up to me. He'll enjoy this. I'll take a
minute to tell you. The man came up to me and he
said, I never met him before. He said, Bob, he may be here
this morning. He's come up here a few times,
named Larry. He said, I was an alcoholic seven
years ago, six, seven years ago, and he said, I stayed home. Wife went to church. She always
went to church. And I stayed home. He said, I was sitting
there on Sunday morning, a beer in each hand. One wasn't enough.
I had to have one in each hand. And he said, I laid one down,
went over and turned on the television. I was going to watch Jimmy Swagger.
I liked his music. But I missed him and you were
on. And he said, the first thing you said when I turned that thing
on, you pointed your finger at me and said, if you turn this
program on for entertainment, you might as well turn it off.
He said, that arrogant old man. He said, I went on and turned
it off. Went back and sat down. He said, I kept thinking, I think
I'll see what that arrogant old man has to say after that. So
he turned it back on. He said, I heard things I never
heard before. We send tapes to it. And he said, but just a little
while later. So I got to listening. But a little while later, I had
a terrible attack, appendicitis. And they took me to the Veterans
Hospital, I believe up in Huntington. And he said, they put me in the
room with one of your members. And he said, that fella asked
me questions I'd never heard before. And he said he gave me
a tape and told me to listen to that preacher, and I'd find
he's saying what the others weren't saying. And he said, the first
word I knew was that arrogant old preacher I turned on on television.
This is providence of God. And our member had a heart attack,
and God put him there to give a tape to this man. You believe
God would really do that? Huh? You reckon God would actually
make you have a heart attack so you could witness one of his
sheep? Huh? Yes, he will. Yes, he will. And I talked to that member of
the congregation who witnessed to that man, and that man said,
A member of our church literally saved him from free willism because
he said in the emergency room, I got saved two or three times.
He said, I told God I'd do anything but he just wouldn't let me die.
And then they wheeled me in there with that fellow that gave me
the tape and delivered me from free willism. And I talked to
this man on the phone. He said, well, he told me that. He said, God's providence is
precious. He'll put us where we maybe don't want to be. or
that we might be where he wants us to be. Huh? Okay. Joseph said, you meant it for
evil, God meant it for good. The last thing, I'm going to
quit. 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians
4, verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not,
even as others who have no hope." Let's don't be ignorant concerning
death and resurrection. We're going to die. I'm going
to die. It's a way of life. It's a way
of flesh. It's a way of this natural life.
But death to the believer is not loss, it's gain. We sorrow,
but not as those who have no hope. My soul, that's graduation
day. Death to the believer's gain.
Paul said, I desire to depart and be with Christ, and death
to the believer. That's what he wants. He's going
to be satisfied when he awakes with Christ's likeness. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear
no evil. Start with me. Surely goodness
and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I'm going
to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. May God give us wisdom and deliver
us from ignorance.

I Would Not Have You to Be Ignorant

What does the Bible say about spiritual ignorance?

How do we know God's righteousness is through Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to understand the providence of God?

What does the Bible teach about death for believers?

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I Would Not Have You to Be Ignorant

What does the Bible say about spiritual ignorance?

How do we know God's righteousness is through Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to understand the providence of God?

What does the Bible teach about death for believers?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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