The Scripture says, And all the
days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and
he died. And all the days of Seth were
nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. And all the days
of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died. And all the days of Cainan were
910 years, and he died. And all the days of Mahalio were
895 years, and he died. And all the days of Jared were
962 years, and he died. And all the days of Methuselah
were nine hundred sixty and nine years, and he died. And all the days of Laman were
seven hundred seventy and seven years, and he died. I suppose that it's a natural
thing for a person to have some fear and apprehension concerning
this matter of dying. Men were not created to die. Men were created to live. God
breathed into Adam the breath of life. He became a living soul. And there's a rebellion in us
against dying. Well, the way God created Adam,
there was no reason to die. No sin, no death. By one man's sin entered the
world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men." There's
no reason for Adam in his unfallen state to die. But we're fallen
creatures. We're creatures who have sinned
against God. We've sinned against God, and
death is the result of sin. The Lord said to Adam, in the
day you eat, you'll die. He said, the soul that sinneth
shall die. He said, the wages of sin is
death. It is appointed unto men who
wants to die. Job said, I shall go the way
of all flesh. I shall die and not live. Now, in one sense of the word,
a fear of death serves a good purpose. I believe that it does. The fear of death, I think, prevents
many people from committing suicide. I believe if most of the population
of this world did not have built in an apprehension and a fear
for death, more people would kill themselves. Years ago, a person called me
and said that her sister was on her way down here to the Ashland
Cold Grove Bridge to commit suicide. Asked me if I'd run down there.
So I did. I went down there, and sure enough,
the lady was walking up the sidewalk of the bridge, and I followed
her. And she got right out in the middle and stopped, looked
over the side. Walked right up behind her and
I said, what are you going to do? She said, I'm going to jump
off this bridge. I said, well, I wouldn't do that.
And she said, you would if you were in my place and your life
was like mine. She went on and told me about
her unhappiness. Her husband was cruel and hateful
and difficult to live with. Her children were wild and her
health was bad and she had no cause to live. And we stood there
and argued and talked for a long time, and just about nothing
would change her mind. I thought I'd try one more thing,
and I said, well, go ahead. I said, I'll tell you this, five
seconds after you hit that water, you'll wake up in hell, because
you don't know God, and you don't know Christ. She said, you believe
in hell? I said, I do. She said, I don't. I said, jump, find out. I wouldn't
have let her. But I thought I'd scare her.
And it did. It scared her. She said, there's
just a flood of tears. Just a flood of tears. I said,
now come on. Let me take you home. She lived
out in Grayson. I said, let me take you home.
Let's go by the house. My wife will fix some coffee.
It was early in the morning. And I said, we'll talk a while
and then we'll go home. So I took her home. Never heard
from her again, but she, something scared her and prevented her
from killing herself. I'll tell you another thing,
the fear of death gives sick people the will to live sometimes.
I've had doctors tell me the only thing that's keeping that
man alive is his will to live. He just will not die. He will
not die. And then the fear of death sometimes
gives people a greater regard for human life. But fear of death
in a believer, in a believer, and this is, I'm talking to believers
tonight, talking to myself and I'm talking to you. Fear of death
in a believer produces several evil effects. It's evil and sinful
for a believer. to be under the torment and fear
of dying. Now, it's just plain evil. And
there are three reasons for that. Number one, for me as a believer,
to constantly be afraid of death and dread death, that's dishonoring
to God. Because the Scripture plainly
says that God has the issues of life and death. He says, I
kill and I make alive. Death is an act of God. Death
is an act of God. Job said this in Job 14, 5. He
said, man's days are determined. The number of his months are
with the Lord. God sets our bounds and we cannot
pass. It's like that poem you gave
me a while ago, Colin. It says this, times of sickness,
times of health, times of poverty, times of wealth, times of trial,
times of grief, times of triumph and relief, times the tempter's
power to prove, times to taste the Savior's love, all must come
and last an end, as shall please my heavenly friend. Plagues and
death around me fly, but till he bids me, I cannot die, but
when he does, I will. Not a single shaft can hit till
the God of love sees fit. We believe that. That's the reason
fear of death, constant fear of death, dishonors God. O thou gracious, wise, and just,
in thy hands my life I trust. Have I somewhat dearer still?
Will I resign it to thy will? May I always, on thy hand, still
to surrender stand. When we live in a constant fear
of death, it appears that we can trust God in the sunshine,
but we can't trust Him in the rain. That's the way it appears. When we constantly fear death,
we're saying that we can trust God in fair weather, but not
in a storm. We can rest in God while we live
and do well. We can find comfort while we're
young, but not when we're old. But I believe that's when a man
finds the most comfort. when he comes to the end of the
road. David said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. Job said, Though he slay me,
yet will I trust him. So fearing death, for a believer
to constantly fear death, is dishonoring to God. And secondly,
To fear death dishonors our holy faith in the eyes of other people.
Now, we need to witness a good confession. We need to remember that people
are listening and people are watching, they're observing,
and we need to witness a good confession at all seasons. Now,
folks don't pay a great deal of attention to your confession
and your witness when everything's going your way. But they sure
listen closely when things are tough. That's when they observe
you most closely. That's when they observe you
most closely, when there's a trial. When there's a trial. Somebody
wrote this one time. I don't remember who it was.
I wrote it down. All things are of God. Now, let me not preach sovereignty
and then complain about my lot in life. Let me not talk of divine purpose
and then spend my days murmuring about my troubles. Let me not talk of to live as
Christ and to die as game and then deny it by reluctance to
die. It's totally inconsistent with
faith in a sovereign Christ to question his good providence
now. And so if I constantly fear death
and dread death, it dishonors my holy faith in the eyes of
others. I say I believe God. All right,
thirdly, to fear death robs me of present peace and joy. The
Scripture says perfect love, and I'm not talking about love
without any impurities, that wouldn't be possible for us.
I'm talking about a mature love, a strong love, a complete love
for Christ. And that total love for Christ
and that mature love for Christ casted out fear, because fear
has torment. Fear has torment. And fear of
death has torment. Fear of death produces depression,
doubt, and unrest. Now, we're going to have to do
something about it, because we rob ourselves of present joy
and peace and rest. Now, let's just face the issue.
Death is in us, and death is about us, and death is an appointment
we must keep. But God Almighty will give us
dying grace when that time comes. His grace is sufficient for whatever
my need or trial. A man asked Spurgeon one time,
or said to him, he said, I just, I worry. He said, I just don't
know whether I'll have dying grace. I just don't know. I don't
know when I come to that time whether I'll have dying grace.
Spurgeon said, oh, are you dying? He said, no, I'm not dying now.
He said, well, you don't need it. You don't need it. You don't store up grace. Sufficient
for the day is the grace and mercy. So God gives it when it's
needed. I found that out. Some of you
found that out. We've been through a few trials,
a few difficult times, and we know that His grace is always
there. So don't doubt Him. Don't question
Him. I said this at noon today. Some of us were talking at lunch.
Two great mistakes that we make. Two great mistakes. That is,
trying to live in the past or trying to live in the future.
Now that's just, that's bad business. But if we think back, well, I
wish I'd have done this. If I'd have only done that. If
I'd have said this. If I'd have tried something else.
If, if, if, if, if. That's all gone. There's nothing
you can do about it. It's all in the, in the providence
of God, in the good purpose of God, and He'll bring to pass
as a result of it what He will. And then another problem, don't
try to live in the future. Because the future's not yours,
it's His. We'll even talk about going to
town tomorrow if the Lord will. Let's live right now. Feast on
His grace right now. Feast on His love right now.
Walk in peace and joy and happiness right now. We're blessed right
now, aren't we? Just don't be concerned about
tomorrow. Tomorrow, God will give us the
grace we need. Somebody said, why should we
groan in fear to die? What trembling worms we mortals
are, while death is the gate of endless joy, and yet we dread
to enter there. The pains and groans and dying
strife frighten our feeble souls away. Still we hold to this frail
life. Are we fond of this present and
this clash? The Lord Jesus can make a dying
bed as soft as downy pillars are, while on His breast I lean
my head and breathe my life out sweetly there. Rest and joy and
peace will be robbed from us if we try to live out there in
the future. Talk about what's going to happen a month or two
months or a year or two years from now, just rejoice in the
Lord now. Right now. And whatever the future
holds, it's all in His providence, all in His purpose, and He'll
give the grace for that trial. I'm as guilty of this as you
are. I'm preaching to me, as well as to you. You say, well,
I just can't help it. Well, there's no excuse for it,
is there? Whether I can help it or not, there's no excuse.
I've got a great God. And that great God has great
grace. Well, all right, preachers. Here's
my question. How can we get rid of this fear
of death? How can we get rid of it? Well,
I'll tell you this. I'm going to give you six things
here. But prior to that, let me say, we're not going to get
rid of it by ignorance. Like dumb beasts, you know, people
say, well, I don't even talk about it. That's not going to
help. That's not going to help. That's
the only thing about it. That's the only thing about it. That's
not going to help. Ignoring a tidal wave won't protect
you. Ignoring a splinter under your
fingernail ain't going to make it easy. That won't do it. And then secondly, we're not
going to get rid of it by making a joke out of it like the worldlings
do. I don't like to joke about death.
I don't appreciate, I'll just be honest with you, I don't appreciate
any kind of joke about the Word of God, about death, about salvation,
about Christ, I just don't appreciate any joking and levity in regard
to the serious, solemn things of the living God. I'd just rather
leave it off. So we're not going to get old
worldly people to joke about death. They're always joking
about it. But it's no laughing matter. And then we're not going
to get rid of it by covering it up, making it appear to be
something that it's not. Death is death. Well, where shall we look for
deliverance? Well, let's look at that text Brother Charlie
read a moment ago. Hebrews, chapter 2. Listen to
this. Hebrews, the second chapter.
Let's begin reading with verse 10. For it became Him, our Lord
Jesus Christ, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons to glory. to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through suffering. For both he that sanctified and
they who are sanctified are all of one. They are of one God,
they have one purpose, they have one faith, they have one redemption,
they have one sacrifice. For which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church. will I sing praise unto
thee. And again, I put my trust in
him, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I am the children
which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children,"
that's us, our partakers of flesh and blood, yes we are, he also
himself, likewise, took part of the same, that through death,
his He might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil, and deliver them, and deliver them who through
fear of death for all their lifetime were subject to bondage. Who
delivered us? Christ delivered us. And how are we to find this
peace and joy and happiness? To whom are we to look for help
and hope? To the same One to whom we look
for all things, our Lord Jesus Christ. And do you know how Christ
takes away this fear of death and gives a true believer calmness
and a rest of soul? Let me give you six things, briefly.
Here's how He does it. Here's how that we can have confidence
in the face of old age and disease and death and all these things
that await before us. Number one, He removes sin, which
is the sting of death. They tell a little country story
about a little boy that was out in the backyard. Came running
in, crying. And his mama said, what's wrong?
He said, that old bumblebee stung me. Sure enough, it stung the
little boy on the hand. Left his stinger in there. And
the mother got a pair of tweezers and pulled it out and put some
alcohol or something on it and said, now go on back out and
play. A few minutes, he came running back in. He said, that
old bumblebee's after me again. She said, he can't hurt you.
He lost his stinger. He lost his stinger. And this
is the thing, the sting of death. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. The
sting, what puts the sting in death is sin. That's where the
poison is. That's where the hurt is. It's sin. Our Lord said, if you
die in your sins, you can't come where I am. Sin when it's finished
bringing forth death. But our Lord has taken the stinger. When he hung on Calvary's cross,
death and judgment plunged the stinger in him and exhausted
its poison, and for every believer there is no sting left. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. There
is no condemnation. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's will? You can challenge heaven, earth,
and hell. You can challenge the books of
God, the law of God, the statutes of God, the commandments of God,
the angels of God, the demons of hell or Satan, anybody. I call on anybody anywhere to
bring one charge against one for whom Christ took the stake.
It's not any less. 1 Corinthians 15, listen. Verse
fifty-five, O death, where is your sting? I'll tell you where
it is. It's planted in the heart of
my Lord. Planted in there. Where's your grave? Where's your
victory? The grave lost its victory over God's people when Christ
walked out. That's right. Well, the sting
of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the
love of thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory over Death
over sin, over hell, over the grave, to learn Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there it is, that blotted
out. If sin be pardoned and secure,
death hath no sting beside. The Lord gives sin its damning
power, but Christ my ransom doth. Now, take the fear away. There's
no sting. That's the reason David said
he could walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear
no evil, because my Lord's already taken all the evil, all that
hell could give. He said the judge, the Satan,
the prince of this world has come and found nothing in me. All right, secondly, we can look
to Christ and lose that fear of death and have a calm and
rest of soul. I don't tell you to lie there
on your deathbed and say, Lord, I've done the best I can. That's
sure damnation. Don't lie there and think about
all the gifts you've given to the church and the Sunday school
classes you've taught and the sermons you've preached. That
won't help you. That won't help an honest person.
Don't think of raising your children, working your fingers to the bone,
Sewing and cooking and washing and being a good mama. God doesn't
save good mamas. He saves sinners. I'm telling
you the truth. That won't help you. But you
look to Calvary. That'll help you. When you see
our Lord bearing our sins in His body on the tree, and exhausting
all, drinking the last drink, the last bitter drink, drinking
the cup of God's wrath, totally emptying it, and there's nothing
left. for us to drink. That'll give
you some peace. Secondly, our Lord changes the
character of death for the believer. He said to Martha, you know,
when they came and told him Lazarus was sick, he finally said, he's
asleep. He's asleep. Lazarus died. And
our Lord didn't call it death. He just would not call it death.
He said, he's asleep. And the disciples misunderstood.
And they said, well, if he's asleep, then he's doing all right.
He must be better. Fever must be gone down. Our
Lord said, he's dead for your benefit. He's dead. But he said to Martha, he said,
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Actually, believers, now listen
to me, get this carefully. Believers do not ever die in
the sense that unbelievers die. Christ does not call our departure
death. He calls it sleep. He calls it
sleep. He did not refer... He said,
those who sleep in Christ will He bring with Him. He calls it
sleep. Now, death to the unbelievers
a curse, but to the believer it's a blessing. He said, blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. Death to the unbelievers loss. But to the believer, it's gain.
That's what Charlie quoted a moment ago. To die is gain. Death to
the unbelievers is a penalty. It's a penalty. It's a penalty
for sin, but for the believer, it's a promotion. Christ said,
today you'll be with me in paradise. Death to the unbelievers is an
execution. It's the law carrying out the
sentence of God. But death for the believer is
deliverance. He hath delivered us, he shall
deliver us, and death for the unbeliever is the end, the end
of grace, the end of mercy. But for the believer, it's just
the beginning. We've been there ten thousand years, bright shining
as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's
praise than when we first pick up. Thirdly, our Lord removes the
fear of death. by assuring us, assuring us,
but He cannot lie. We have His Word. I'm amazed
that we've put so much confidence in earthly preachers and so little
confidence in the King of Glory. I see people who will follow
preachers like those nuts down in Ghana, wherever it was, they'll
follow a preacher anywhere. But they just won't put their
confidence in Christ. Our Lord said, Let another come
in his own name, and him your father. I come in my father's
name, and you don't blame me. But our Lord promised us this.
He removes the fear by assuring us, assuring us, that when we
go to sleep on this earth, we awaken His presence. He said
to the thief on the cross, Today I shall be with thee. You know what He said? Today.
He said, Because I live, you shall live. Paul said that the
answer from the body is to be present with the Lord. The Scripture
says the body returns to dust from which it came, but the soul
to God who gave it. Death simply ushers me into the
presence of my Lord. Look at 2 Corinthians 5. Listen
to this. Brethren, 2 Corinthians 5.1. We know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, He calls us body of ten. a frail
tent. And it's going to be designed.
You're sitting there, some of you are sat there and listening
to me preach for thirty-five years. I look out there at Ammon,
Ruth, and Roy, and Miriam, and Nina, and some of the rest up
there, and Annie Gilley, and some of the rest of you, Russell,
Marty, Ronnie, Carolee. Now wait a minute, thirty-five
years, that means That means I was about 24 years old. But
the thing about you, I was pretty young, too. And this 35 years
has gone by pretty fast, hasn't it? I mean, it's gone by fast.
It seems like yesterday I came to Ashland. It would be 40 years
ago next March, the first time. It seemed like Doris and I got
off that train yesterday. I really did. Our church has
been on television 12 years. Did you know that? I started on television, Gerald,
when I was 47 years old. Now I'm 59. It seemed like yesterday
we went up there. Do you remember when we went
up there? Twelve more years. Now you think about it. It goes
fast. This earthly tabernacle is going
to be dissolved. But now wait a minute. If it
is, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens, we've got a dwelling place in glory
just as soon as this tabernacle is folded up and God puts it
aside. We've got a building not made
with hands, not flesh and blood, but made by God. You think about
that. That ought to take the fear away.
And then he removes the fear, fourthly, by assuring us of the
resurrection of this body. Now, brethren, turn to 1 Corinthians
15. And I'm just going to be totally honest and frank with
you. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 35. I'll take myself, because I suppose
I died tonight. I go to be with Christ. When
the resurrection comes, this person here is going to rise
from the grave. I'm going to be who I am. I'm going to know
my Redeemer. I'm going to know my friends.
I'm going to know myself. I'm going to have an understanding
of what the Lord saved me from. I'm going to have a full understanding,
a greater understanding I preach in part now, but then, when that
which is perfect has come, I don't know as I've been known. I understand
in part now. I don't mind saying I don't know
about a lot of things. I don't know. But I'm going to
know then. I'm going to know then. I'm going
to know why God did all that He did. He's going to tell me
why He did it. He's going to show me. I'm going to have a... I'm
going to be like Christ. I see through a glass dimly now. I
see, but it's very dim. But I'm going to see them. Will
we know each other? Of course we will. Of course we will. I fully expect to see those who
are with the Lord whom I knew, with whom I worshipped. I expect
to see Edgel, Jeff, Betty. I expect to see them. I really
do. I don't think we're going to
know less then than we do now, do you? I know a lot of people
have a fear. You know, things are going to
be so vast there, and they're going to be beyond us. Oh, no,
no, no, no, no. My Lord is so great and magnificent
and infinite, and yet He hears a baby cry. My Lord is so vast
and infinite and great and omnipresent and omniscient, and yet He hears
the groans of one of His children. And we're going to be like Him.
I'm going to have such So much more capacity to love. So much
more capacity to praise Him. So much more capacity to include
everybody. So much more capacity and understanding. Because I'm going to be like
Christ. See what I'm talking about? So
don't think, well, I'm a nobody, you know. Oh, no, you're a son
of God. And there's a name place for
you up there at the table at the marriage supper. A name place.
And He's going to raise your body. And He said in 1 Corinthians
15, look at verse 44 is what I want it for. It's sown, verse
42, it sows the resurrection. It's sown in corruption. It's
going to be raised in incorruption. Some of us are getting wrinkled
and gray-headed and old and frail and stoop-shouldered and stumbly
walking, but we're going to dance then. We're going to mount up
with wings of angels. Brand new, eternally young. Never
to know a tear, never to know a pain, never to know a sorrow,
never to know a doubt, never to know a fear. He's going to
remove it all. That's what this book says. He
said it's sown in dishonor, it's going to be raised in glory,
God's glory. It's sown in weakness. Weakness
not only physically, but mentally we're weak. I can't remember like I used
to. I used to know about everybody's phone number in here, but I have
to look them up now. It's sown in weakness, raised in power,
sown a natural body, be raised a spiritual body, never to die,
sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body. Boy, I tell
you, that ought to take away the fear, shouldn't it? Longing
for the day. And then, you know, fifthly,
he removes the fear of dying by dying himself. You know, if
something happens to you, for example, say it's somebody here that's
never had surgery, never had surgery, and tomorrow you're
going down to the hospital, and you're going to lie down, and
they're going to wheel you in that room for surgery, do you know one
of the most encouraging things that you could do tonight is
talk to somebody who's been in there. Isn't that right? He'll
sit down and talk to you all about it. All that. Now, don't
you have to worry about it. It's going to be okay. And they
kind of lay your fears. Well, let me tell you something. I'm going to the grave someday,
but there's someone who went there before me. When I come
to die, I'll do no more than my Lord's already done. He done.
When I come to be buried, I'll do no more than my Lord has already
done. He's been buried. But bless your
heart, there are footprints walking out of that grave, not just in
it. He's not here. He is risen. Death may separate me for a time
from you, but never from Him. That's right. And then in the
sixth place, He removes the fear of death. by His promise to hear
and answer all my prayers. Now, right now, I've asked for
some things I haven't received. I've been real serious about
them, too. But they'll all be answered then. Have I prayed
to be rid of sin? Yep. Well, I will be then. Have
I prayed to be delivered from troubles and trials? You have,
too, haven't you? We'll be delivered. Have I prayed to be like Christ?
I will then. Have I prayed to see the Lord?
Oh, if I could just see the Lord in this, I will then. Have I
prayed to be rid of pain? Have you been there on the bed
at night and your head just throbbing in pain or sickness and lying
there in tears of sorrow? You've lost a loved one and you're
alone, you're by yourself. You're lonesome in the tears
of sorrow, Paul. You prayed for the Lord to relieve
your loneliness. He will. You'll never be lonely
again. Never, never. Have I prayed for
eternal life? I'll have it. Eternal peace? I'll have it. He'll answer every
prayer. Like Brother John Thornberry,
I believe it was, gave the illustration here. They had a member of their
church that was so sick, so very sick. And they finally met together
one night and said, Lord, make her completely well. And he did. She left that night. He made
her completely well. I say, if he makes me well now,
I'm going to have to die later. Well, I want to give you these
three or four things and quit. Something I wrote here that I
think is important. That's what I do to be rid of
the fear. I look to him. And he removes
the fear. But now here are some things
that I think. In other words, that I look to
Him for all these. But this is something that I
need to do myself. I need to do this now. I need
to continually look to the throne of grace. Grace. That word becomes more precious
to me every year as I turn to the word grace, grace, grace. I've got to look to the throne
of grace. I have a thousand defects, but
here's the throne of grace. I have a thousand defects in
my prayers, in my knowledge, but thank God it's the throne
of grace. I have a thousand defects in
my faith, but it's the throne of grace. Now, will you remember
that? I have a I have a thousand defects in my attitude and my
spirit, but thank God it's a throne of grace to which I'm looking.
Grace heals, forgives, overcomes, overflows. Grace shows mercy
and love, and grace is greater than all our sins. So that's
what I want to remember is grace, not works in any way, it's not
an exchange in any way. I'm not getting closer to heaven
because I'm getting better. I'm as close to heaven right
now as I'll ever be, because Christ my forerunner is within
the veil. That's right, and that's what
it's based on. And then I want to die daily. The man, somebody
said, who has a daily rehearsal of death to this world and to
self, will not be afraid nor unprepared when the reality of
it comes. You keep laying something down,
then when you have to lay it down permanently, it's not near
as hard. We need to daily consider all
things in the light of death and eternity, and if we're constantly
laying them down, if we're constantly pushing them away, then when
God comes and sweeps them away, it won't be near as hard to part
with. And then we need to hold loosely to these treasures of
the world. You know, somebody said this
one time, we wouldn't dare worship a calf of gold. We talk about,
behind the world, could they do that? In the wilderness, those
Israelites made that calf of gold and worshipped it. How could
they do that? I wonder if some of us haven't worshipped idols
of clay. This is clay. Or I'll tell you, I read one time about a man who
stayed in a motel. He was there two days. He didn't
change the room. He didn't change the pictures.
He didn't change the furniture. He didn't change the drapes.
He didn't change the bedspread. He didn't change the throw rug.
He didn't change the chairs because he was going to be on his way
tomorrow. Some of us act like we're going
to stay here. We're digging these roots too deep. We're burying
these stakes too deep. We're clutching these things
too firmly. And we need to be a little less,
a little less concerned about it. We really do. Hold loosely
to them. I said one time, if you hold
loosely to these treasures, God won't break your fingers when
He takes them away from you. And then let's walk with God.
Let's walk with God. You can't fear death when you
walk with life. Somebody said there was a man
who walked with God, and one day he wasn't. He just walked
on in the globes. He walked with God, and one day they couldn't
find him. He just walked on to glory. He'd
been in the company of the Lord. You see, I'm telling you this.
Now listen to me. Some of the company you keep
is not good for you. Evil companions will corrupt
good manners. And you can account for a lot
of your doubts and fears with the company you keep. People
who walk with God walk with life. People who walk with other believers
walk with life. They don't walk with death. I
know some of you men have to, and women too, have to have this
advantage. I have this advantage over you.
You have to work with these folks, but you don't have to socialize
with them. That's right. You don't have
to socialize with them. You socialize with death, I'll
tell you who's going to be contaminated. It won't be them, it'll be you. If you put a rotten apple in
a barrel or two or three, I might guarantee you those rotten apples
won't turn good. The good apples won't have any
effect on the rotten ones. But I'll tell you what the rottens
will have on the good apples. It'll rot them too. I'm saying, come apart and be
yourself. But what fellowship does light
have with darkness? What fellowship does Baal have
with God? And let's walk with God. Walk with God's people. Walk in the company of God's
people. If you want to... I'm telling you things to do.
We look to Christ. Now listen to me. We find in
Him all we need. He supplies all our needs. But
I have some things to do for my own encouragement and good.
I need to set my affections on things above. He tells me to
do that. Set my affections on the throne of grace. and to die
daily, and to hold loosely with these things of the world, and
to walk with God. And walk with the people of God,
and walk with those things that are dedicated to God. Walk with
those things that comfort, and encourage, and exhort, and edify,
not those things that drain. And I'll tell you, it's nothing
like an evil conversation to drain and sap the spirituality
out of you. If you hang around covetous people,
watch it. Watch it. They'll drain you. They don't contribute to you.
They take away from you. They don't contribute to your
peace. They don't contribute to your rest. They drain you.
You say, well, I've got a witness to them. Well, do it. And then
move on. A fellow said to me just the
other day, he said, you don't have any friends who are unbelievers,
do you? I said, I've got some people
that I care for and love who are unbelievers, but I don't
hang around with them. We live in different worlds.
I don't hang around with them. Because I know what they do to
you. And then here's the last one here. Let me live each day
as if it were my last day on earth, because there's a good
possibility And it will be.