Luke 19, and Jesus entered and passed
through Jericho. Jericho is the opposite of Jerusalem,
both wicked cities, but Jerusalem, the capital of religion, Jericho,
the capital of evil. And it says in verse 2, Behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus. The chief among the publicans.
Now, the publicans were notorious sinners. When our Lord Jesus Christ wanted
to illustrate self-righteousness, he chose a Pharisee. When he
wanted to illustrate the free grace and mercy of God upon a
guilty sinner, he chose a publican. how extreme these people were. Pharisees, religious, moral,
ceremonialists, the publicans, degraded, notorious, well-known
rebels. When he talked about he's the
friend of publicans and sinners, publicans and sinners. So the
publicans were notorious sinners. Now what their business was over
in England, Scotland, they're innkeepers. They run of hockey
talks. But back here in these days,
back in these days, they were people who collected taxes and
revenue. And in the collection of revenue
and taxes, they came to these poor, illiterate, ignorant people. And they'd rob them, literally
steal them blind. These people knew they had to
pay taxes to the Roman government. But these tax collectors, these
publicans, would take advantage of their ignorance, and they'd
just literally rob them. They'd collect what was due to
the government, but they'd collect anything else they wanted to
collect for themselves. That's how they made the money
off the top. They just literally robbed these people. According
to most writers, these publicans collected what was due and much,
much more for themselves. And the people didn't get a notice
from the government, you owe so much, a percentage. The tax
collector, the publican, just came, the collector of revenue,
sitting at the receipt of customs. Matthew was a publican. And they
just told these folks what they owed and they paid or else. Now,
Zacchaeus, what's this? The word publican is the key,
but he was cheap among the publicans. And I was sitting last night
thinking how we have literally taken the teeth out of this message
and the truth out of it with these silly little songs. And
I've sung them and taught them to my grandchildren. Zacchaeus
was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. And he climbed
up in a sycamore tree, the Savior. Now, let me tell you something.
Zacchaeus was an important man. Zacchaeus was a big shot. Zacchaeus was a wealthy man who
lived up on the hill. Zacchaeus was a man people feared
and hated and despised. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. He was a chief among the people.
The fact that he was a short man has no bearing on him whatsoever. The fact that he was smaller
than other men, he was just shorter than other men. But Zacchaeus
was an important man. Zacchaeus was a powerful man.
Zacchaeus was a hated man. Zacchaeus was a notorious crook. But God saves crooks because
he saved us, didn't he? He saves thieves. He saves notorious
sinners. And this man Zacchaeus somehow,
some way, had heard of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just out of
curiosity. He sought to see Christ. He made
it his business to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was coming
through Jericho, and Zacchaeus made it his business to see who
he was and find out what he was saying, and when he came to see
him, he couldn't. Our Lord was walking down the
street, and the crowd was so heavy on both sides, and Zacchaeus
was a short man that he came up behind them, and he couldn't
see over them. But I want you to watch this
man's humility, not only his humility, but his determination
to see Christ. This man Zacchaeus, who was very
wealthy, very well known, very hated, very despised, ran ahead,
littered around. And this man climbed a tree,
Charlie. This fellow was so desirous to
see Christ, so concerned to see Christ, that he made use of what
means he had, and he ran before it, verse 4, and climbed up in
a tree. He wanted to see Christ. He wanted
so desperately to see Christ so he could hear him. He wanted
a personal sight of Christ. There was something in his heart,
something in his soul, something in his nature that made him want
to see, to know, to look upon Christ. God put it there. That's
the grace of God. That's the grace of God that
goes before the grace of God that goes before even awakening,
before regeneration, before the hearing of the word. Almighty
God deals with his people. He said, I'll bring my sheep.
Zacchaeus wanted his sheep. I'll show you that in a minute.
And this man, unashamed, in humility, this important, rich, wealthy,
chief of publicans climbed up in a tree. And when the Savior
came that way, look at verse 5, when our Lord came to that
spot, he looked up in the tree. I just imagine when his eyes,
everybody's watching Christ, nobody sees Zacchaeus in that
tree, and they're all watching Christ as he walks down the street
here, and he's talking to the people, probably healing people,
and they're all clamoring after him on both sides, and our Lord
stops, and everybody's watching him, his eyes turn up in that
tree, and when his eyes went up in that tree, everybody's
eyes went up to that tree. And I imagine there was a buzz
went through that crowd. Look up in that tree, sitting
there like a little boy on a branch is Zacchaeus. That's what I'm
saying. Sitting up there, all Christ's
eyes on him and everybody else's eyes on him. He's sitting there
like a little boy in a tree. In a tree. You see, God is working
here. This thing, I'm sure the Lord
is working in Zacchaeus' heart and life, or this wealthy, rich,
cheap among publicans, this man, notorious rebel, this man who
through graft and greed and every other way had robbed even these
very people standing on this street, and here he is sitting
up in a tree looking down on Christ. And our Lord Jesus looked
up at him and he said, Zacchaeus, come on down. Come on down. Make haste, hurry, come on down.
For he said, today I'm going to your house. Now, brother,
if you think that crowd was amazed when they looked up there, and
look who's in the tree, you know, I'd see some husband punching
the wife, look out, there's old Zacchaeus up in a tree. They
were so shocked, they were so amazed to see Zacchaeus sitting
up on a branch like a little boy just so he could see Christ. You think they were shocked then,
when he came down from that tree and our Lord Jesus Christ said,
I'm going to eat and spend the night at your house. Now, brother,
you talk about shock. It says here, and when they saw
it and when they heard it, they all murmured, saying, what in
the world is he going to Zacchaeus' house for? He's gone to be the
guest to be the guest with a man that's a sinner, a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, he was so
overwhelmed with the grace of Christ. I'll tell you what the
grace of Christ does. The grace of Christ makes a man
want to see Christ. The grace of God makes a man
humble, and he'll go anywhere He'll put forth any effort he's
got to hear of Christ. He's got to see Christ. He's
got to receive that gospel. He'll put forth every effort.
It may be the 13th Street Baptist Church. It may be some little
store building church. It may be up a tree. But where
the gospel is placed, he's going to hear it. where Christ is,
he's going to be, he's going to put forth every effort to
be there, unashamedly. Whether he's wealthy, whether
he's rich, whether he's important, whether he's influential, whether
he's a nobody, that doesn't matter. He's going to see Christ, and
this man Zacchaeus put forth every effort. And when Christ
revealed himself to him and spoke to him and ministered his grace
to him and said, I'm going to your house, salvation's coming
to this house, this is the result. Zacchaeus said, Lord, he became
a generous man. Here's a seeking sinner, here's
a humble sinner, here's a blessed sinner, and here's a generous
sinner. The grace of God has bested him
and made him gracious. God saves tightwads, but they
don't stay tightwads. God saves greedy people, but
they don't stay greedy. God saves crooks, but they don't
remain crooks. God saves thieves, but they don't
remain thieves. And Zacchaeus said, Lord, I'm
going to give half my goods to feed the poor. He's never been
concerned for the poor. He's concerned for poor Zacchaeus.
But now he's concerned for the poor. And he said, what I've
taken from people by false accusation, I plan to restore it fourfold.
And our Lord said, this day of salvation come to this house.
Now watch this sentence. Nearly every preacher says, this
day of salvation come to this house. But do you see what our
Lord said in verse 9? For as much as he also is a son
of Abraham. Now brethren, Abraham had natural
sons and seed. Abraham, his seed, Isaac, Esau
was a son of Abraham, naturally, by natural genealogy and generation. Jacob, Esau, all the twelve sons
of Jacob, all those fellas, all of their fellas, but that's not
what our Lord's talking about here. He's not saying this man's
a Jew. He's saying this man's a spiritual Jew. He's not saying
this man is of the house and lineage of Abraham. He's saying
he's of the house and lineage of Abraham's seed, who's Christ.
This man's a sheep. This man's a sheep. See, our
Lord, he said in verse 10, the Son of Man has come to seek and
to save that which was lost. Sheep are lost. Sheep are lost. Sons, lost sons, lost sheep. You say, what are you saying,
preacher? Turn to John chapter 6, and I'll show you no uncertain
turns what I'm saying. In John chapter 6, I'm saying
it unashamedly and boldly and frankly, and I'm saying it so
you know what I'm talking about. Before the foundation of the
world, the Father gave the Son of people. He gave him a people
out of Adam's fallen race. He gave him a people who were
sinners, fallen creatures. Some of them were publicans.
Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee. Some of them were rich, some
of them were poor, some of them were white, some of them were
black, some of them were this, that, and the other, out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven. And those people
are sons of God and sons of Abraham through the seed, Christ Jesus.
They're people given to Christ. In John chapter 6, verse 37,
he says, All that my Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me, I'll 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 hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I'll
lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. Verse 44 says,
No man can come to me except my Father which sent me. Draw
him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. It is written in
the prophets, they shall all be taught of God. Every one of
them, every man that hath heard and hath learned of the Father
comes to me. I'm saying this, when our Lord
Jesus Christ walked down that street, there were sons of Abraham
naturally speaking by natural genealogy everywhere. But our
Lord is looking for his sheep. We preach to all people, all
nations, every creature, but out yonder God has a sheep like
Zacchaeus. And he'll bring them to hunger,
he'll bring them to a dissatisfaction with themselves, he'll bring
them to a knowledge and conviction of sin, he'll bring them to a
condition of humility, he'll bring them to seek the Lord.
That's what Zacchaeus was doing, he's seeking the Lord, seeking
the Lord. And he'll reveal himself to them,
and he'll bring them down. And he'll humble them, he'll
give them a new nature and a new spirit. Our Lord said, I'm going
to his house because he's one of my sheep. I don't care if
he is Causacus, I don't care if he is a crook, I don't care
if he is a notorious rebel and a publican, I'm going to his
house. He's one of my own. He also is
a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come, look
at verse 10, to seek and to save that which was lost. My friends,
why are we amazed when God saves a great sinner? Why are we amazed? Why does somebody say, you know,
somebody, some 19, 20-year-old girl walked down the aisle, or
boy, and say, I confess Christ, I'm saved, and everybody, you
know, so glad. golf, so forth and so on. But
you let somebody who's in this town that's been the leading
poker player, or drunk, or wife-beater, or whoremonger, or something
like that, and he gets saved, everybody goes home talking about,
you know who got saved this morning? Old So-and-so got saved. Old
Al Capone's henchman. That ain't no problem. When God
saved you, he saved the devil's henchman. You didn't work for
Al Capone, you worked personally for the devil. And when God saves
that 19-year-old girl, it takes just as much grace and blood
and redemption and mercy to save her as it does a publican like
Zacchaeus, because they're just alike inside. In the sight of
God, they're all notorious rebels. God doesn't save many folks today. You see a lot of people get in
religion, but not many people come in and know the Lord. But
I'll tell you this, it's a triumphant, glorious, wonderful miracle of
His love and mercy and grace when He saves anybody. For that's
why He came, to seek and to save the lost. He delights to show
mercy. Well, I tell you this, if you've
never been lost, you've never been saved anyhow. But look at
verse 11, I want to move quickly. I want you to see, did you ever
notice verse 11? And as this situation was going
on, and as they were listening to these words, and as they,
here they, Zacchaeus stood so glad, so overwhelmed with the
mercy of the Lord, so overwhelmed, so changed, so smitten, so broken,
so in love with Christ. and His mercy. And everybody's
standing around with their mouths open, you know, he's going to
eat with Zacchaeus. Going out to that fella's house.
Why doesn't he go to Reverend so-and-so's house? No, he's going
to Zacchaeus' house. The Lord said, I came to save
the lost. Anybody here lost? And as they heard these things,
he added a parable. He spake a parable. Now, what's
it? Because he was near Jerusalem. What's Jerusalem? Capital of
religion. What's Jerusalem? Jerusalem is
the capital of Israel. What's Jerusalem? The city of
David. What's Jerusalem? It's the place from which they
look for the Messianic kingdom. They prayed towards Jerusalem.
They looked to Jerusalem, and he was standing near Jerusalem.
Secondly, it says, and because these Jews thought, the disciples
particularly, that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
It was imminent. They thought the kingdom was
imminent. They looked for an earthly reign and an earthly
kingdom. They thought there was a possibility
that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Christ, and the Jews were
fixing to take over again. That's exactly what they thought.
The Jews, God's fixing to restore Solomon's wealth and David's
riches and glory to Israel. That's what they thought. And
so he's going to clear this up. He's going to tell them, he said,
the Son of Man has come to this earth. to seek and to save the
lost. Not set up right now a kingdom.
And he told this parable. He said, verse 12, a certain
nobleman, certain important man, went into a far country to receive
for himself a kingdom. He was going to receive from
probably the great king a certain kingdom for himself. He was going
to be promoted to a king. to a wealthy monarch over a large
country, probably like the British Isles had Australia and Canada
and New Zealand and all these other places, and the Queen appoints
a governor over that whole section. And he left where he was to go
up here to the headquarters to get a kingdom. And he gathered
his men around him, verse 13, he called his servants and he
gave them each something So a talent or a pound, and he said, now
I'm going away, and I'll be back. I'm going to get my kingdom.
And I'll be back, and you occupy it while I come. You keep busy. You use this that I've given
you. The citizens of that island or that country hated him. They
sent word up yonder and said, well, he's not going to reign
over us. This is Christ talking about himself. He's talking about
himself. He's talking about himself. Son
of man has come to this earth. He's going back to the Father,
and He's going to prepare a place for you. He's going to receive
a kingdom. The Father had delivered everything
into the hands of the Son, and He said, I'm coming back. I'm
coming back. And this man who went away to
get his kingdom said, I'll be back. You occupy while I come.
I'm going to get my kingdom. I'm going to get the official
approval and the official designation, and I'll be back. Now, I'm going
to give you this, and you use it, and I'll be back. Well, he
came back. And I'll just give you this briefly.
He got some of the servants around him, and one of them said, he
said, what have you done? He said, well, Master, he said,
I took that pound you gave me, and I put it to use, and here's
10 pounds. Well, he said, you know, in Matthew,
the same parable is given, Matthew 25. It may be identical. I'm
not certain about that. But anyway, he said to him, enter
the joy of your Lord. And he turned to another and
said, what have you done? He said, well, I took that one. I got
five. Well done, enter the joy of the Lord. Well, he came to
another one, and this fella said, look at verse 20, and he came
to another, and this fella said, Lord, here's your pound, just
like you left it, here's your pound. I kept it in a napkin.
Now, I feared you. Boy, he thinks he's gonna honor
the Lord here. He said, I feared you, he said,
because I know you're an austere man, you're sovereign, you're
king, you got all power, you don't need anybody or anything.
And I know you take up where you don't lay down, and you reap
where you don't sow." And he said to him out of your own mouth,
I'll judge you, you wicked servant. He said, you take what he's got
and give to the man with ten. They said, Lord, he's got ten.
He said, to him that hath shall be given, and to him that hath
not shall that which he hath be taken away. Now, I'm going
to apply this. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
this earth. He came down here on a mission
to redeem a people. He came down here and gave his
life. First of all, he gave his life
in active obedience to the law of God. He was born of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them born under the law. He walked
this earth, tempted, tested, tried in all points as we are,
yet without sin, to impute unto us a perfect standing before
God legally, positionally, a perfect righteousness. He went to the
cross and suffered and died, redeemed us from our sins. He
was bared and rose again, and he went back to glory to receive
that which he purchased, his kingdom, his kingdom. Awake,
O sword! Smite the shepherd, and scatter
the sheep. I don't know whether you're going
to save the sheep by smiting the shepherd. That's the only
way you can save the sheep, by smiting the shepherd. He died
that we may live. And he went back to glory. Now,
what do you say, what about these gifts, all right? Well, when
he went back to glory, he said to his disciples, I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place,
I'll come again, receive you unto myself. And all of the people
there said, we won't have this man reign over us. We're not
going to submit to him. We're not going to have this
Jesus Christ to be our sovereign Lord and King. Alright, but he
gave to his own some gifts turn to Ephesians 4 Ephesians chapter
4 and our Lord's talking about himself here when our Lord went
away. He's talking about himself He
went away. He's coming back. He said to
his people you occupied like come and he gave some gifts Now,
what are the gifts? Alright Ephesians 4 verse 10? Or verse 8, let me read verse
8. It says, when he ascended up on high, this is Christ, he
led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. He gave gifts to
men, providential gifts. Now leave verse 9 and 10 out,
it's in parentheses. It's identifying him who arose,
him who ascended. And verse 8 says, he gave gifts
to men. Now verse 11, and he gave some
apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors
and teachers. What for? For the maturing of
the saints. For the work of the ministry.
For the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we come, all
of us, in the unity of faith, of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect or mature man, unto the measure of the
fullness, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. Our Lord gave the gifts of the ministry. He gave gifts
to men. For the people, for the church.
Secondly, he gave his word. A true minister of the gospel
is a gift of God. He gave to that man gifts, and
he gave him to the people as a gift for their good, God's
glory. This is the gift of God. I have
given them thy word, he said. I've given them thy word. This
is the pound. Not only that, he gave us eyes
to read. I can read. Gave me ears to hear. I can hear. I don't always like to listen
to what I ought to listen to or look upon what I ought to
look upon, but I've got eyes to read his word and ears to
hear his gospel. God gave me a mind to think. He said, come, let us reason
together, though your sins be a scarlet and so forth. He gave
nature. He gave us conscience. In other
words, when our Lord Jesus Christ left here, he didn't leave nothing. He didn't leave himself without
a witness. When this nobleman went to get his kingdom, he left
some people down here and gave them gifts. He put them in charge
of things. He said, here, use this until
I come back. You occupy it until I come back.
And when our Lord Jesus Christ went to glory, he said, if I
go out of the way, the Holy Spirit will not come. If I go away,
I'll send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's the gift of
Christ. Ministers, apostles, pastors, Holy Spirit, the Word,
eyes to see, ears to hear, all these different things. He gave
them. You see that? That's what that's
saying. He's gone. He's coming back. All right,
he came back. The man came back. Now let's
go back to our text, Luke 19. He came back. Stay with me now. He came back, and he gathered
around him these people to whom he'd given these gifts. He said,
let's have a report. Well, the first fellow told him,
he said, I've used what you gave me. I used it diligently. I used
it enthusiastically. I used it. Well, he said, give
him 10. He said, rule over 10 cities. Now, don't use this parable to
teach rewards in heaven. Don't make a parable walk on
four legs. Don't overload it to make it prove what you want
it to prove. Christ is emphasizing one thing here, and I'm getting
to it. The next guy, he gave him five cities to reign over.
Enter the joy of your Lord. The other fellow said, now listen
to him. He said, Lord, one man came and said, Lord, I know you're
sovereign. I know you're the sovereign ruler.
I know you reap where you don't sow. Reap where you don't sow. That's what he said. You're so
powerful, you don't need to use means. You don't need me. You
don't need anybody. You don't need anything. There's
an element of truth. Our Lord used that one time.
The people were crying out and they hushed him. He said, if
they don't cry out, the stones will. Another time he said he
was able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. But that's
not how he raises up children, out of stones. He raised them
up out of people. But this fellow said, I know
you can do what you want to do. I know that you reap where you
don't sow. I know you take up where you don't lay down. So
I got just exactly here. Here's what you left me. Here's
your sun and the moon and the stars, just like you left them.
And here's nature, just like you left. Here's your Bible,
just like you left it. It's not opened and hadn't been
read, hadn't been studied or marked. But here it is. It's
yours. Here it is, just like you left. And here's your priest.
I didn't pay no attention to him. I didn't listen to him.
I didn't heed what he had to say. There he is, though, just
like you left him. And, Lord, here's my eyes and my mind. I
hadn't learned anything. I hadn't sought the Lord. I hadn't
given any diligence. I haven't given any concern.
I haven't used these things. Oh, here it is. I've got them
wrapped up in a napkin just like you left. There it is right there.
See, because I knew you didn't need it. I knew you didn't need
this to do anything, and there it is, just like you left it.
Yeah, God's sovereign, God's on the throne, and he doesn't
need me to add anything to his glory." And our Lord said, You're
a wicked servant, what you are. You're a wicked servant. Now,
tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to judge you out of
your own mouth. You speak of my power. He said,
You say I'm an austere man. You say I take up where I don't
lay down and I reap where I don't sow, I'm going to judge you out
of your own mouth. You're using my sovereignty as
an excuse for your no-count laziness. That's what you're doing. You
see that? You see that, Cecil, what I'm
saying? You're using my authority, you're
using my sovereignty, you're using my power as an excuse for
your indifference. That's exactly what you're doing.
You're putting the blame on me for your failure, and I ain't
going to take it. That's what he said. You're going
to have it. You're going to wear it. I'm going to judge you out
of your own mouth. I gave you eyes to see, and you
didn't study. I gave you ears to hear, and
you no count thing you didn't try to hear. I gave you my Bible. It's right there. and you didn't
read it. I gave you a preacher who loved
me and my gospel, and you didn't hear him. I gave you all these
things. Now then, take away what he has. Take away. Take away his mind. Take away his ears to hear. Take away his eyes to see. Take
away the light he has. Take away everything. Take it
away. Give it over here to the man
who's got ten. As long as he's got ten, use what God gives you
and he'll give you more. Don't use what God gives you
and he'll take away what you have. If that light in you be
darkness, how great is that darkness. He that hath is going to have
more. And he that hath not, even that which he hath will be taken
away. Now then, here's what I'm saying.
Faith or fatalism, that's the title of this message. Faith
or fatalism. Somebody told me, I said I was
going to speak on this, they said there's a thin line between
faith and fatalism. Maybe so, but oh, what a line. There is a line. I'm saying to
you this, my friend, God is absolutely, immutably, infinitely, eternally
sovereign. I don't have any doubt about
that. I know it as well as I'm standing here. I wouldn't question
his sovereignty over creation, over providence and salvation.
He said, I'll be merciful to whom I will. I'll be gracious
to whom I will. Christ has come into this world
and died. Christ has literally, perfectly
obeyed, not figurative, literally obeyed God's law and literally
died for his people and suffered and shed his blood to redeem
a people. But thirdly, God has chosen in his wisdom and in his
grace to use means, means, the preaching of the gospel, prayer,
study, God has chosen to use means, means of grace to bring
his people to the knowledge of Christ. He said, Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near. You'll
seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
Ask, and it'll be given you. Seek, and you'll find. Knock,
and it shall be opened. God gave you a tongue, call on
the Lord. God gave you ears, hear His word. Oh, you dry bulbs, hear it! But
they can't hear. Yes, they can't. If God Almighty
commands them to hear, if the Word's preached, they'll hear
it. They heard it. They got up. Matthew 16 says,
Go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Man is a responsible, accountable
creature. Don't use human logic on God.
Don't use human logic on God. God said, Noah, I'm going to
send a flood. You build an ark. He didn't ask him to, he told
him to. If Noah hadn't built an ark, he'd have drowned just
like everybody else. Enter the ark. And I'm saying this to you. Lay hold of eternal life. Walk
in the light God gives you. Occupy. Get in the mainstream. Get out of your laziness and
indifference and your carelessness, and don't excuse your indifference
and laziness on God's power and God's sovereignty. If you don't
use what God gives you, he'll take it away. If you and I employed one half
of the energy in the kingdom of God that we employ in making
a living and making a name for ourselves, we'd glorify God,
oh, how we'd glorify God. I'm saying this, faith or fatalism,
it's in every area of your life. Take the preacher, for example.
I knew that I had to preach this morning. I knew I had to preach
this week in Arkansas. Now, if I don't have an opportunity
to study and don't have an opportunity to labor and prepare a message
and to make Christ known, and I lean upon him, that's faith. That's faith. That's right. Sometimes we have to just totally
lean upon his. We have to all the time, even
when we study or labor or prepare. That's faith. But brother, if
I have the time and the means and don't use it, and I say,
well, God will bless me, that's fatalism. You see what I'm saying? That's fatalism. If Mike's going
to sing, and if somebody's going to sing tonight, and they don't
put any care, now faith, we want God to give us a song. God will
give us a message and song. God blesses those who sing. But
if they say, well, you know, no use preparing, no use working
on it, no use practicing it, God will bless us, that's fatalism.
And God won't bless you. God ain't going to bless you
in difference. Well, if the Lord's going to be there, he'll be there.
That's exactly what this bird said over here. That's exactly
what he said. Protection. Let me tell you something.
If I have to go through like Milton down there, and he goes
through some Indian villages that, one place he said they
killed 12 men not so awful long ago. Well, if he has to go through
that to get to preach the gospel, he has to drive through that
to preach the gospel. Well, go on, God will take care
of you, won't he, Milton? You know that. He'll take care
of you. But now, if he's going fishing, or somewhere, and he
says, I just believe I'll just scoot through there, and God
will take care of me. That's fatalism. If you have to walk
through this park at midnight tonight, one of you young ladies,
because there's somebody in the hospital you've got to get to
to give blood, God will take care of you. But if you're fool
enough to take a stroll through there tomorrow night at midnight,
that's fatalism. You see what I'm saying? God
is suffering, and God is the God of the end, but He's the
God who ordains means. And he gives you some common
sense, Mike, some understanding. It's the same thing about God's
provision. I seek a job. I use my strength to work and
provide for my family, and I depend on God. That's faith. But if
I sit at home, I have the strength, I have the means, I'm too lazy,
I'd rather loaf than get out there and get with it. Well,
God's sovereign. He'll supply the need. That's
fatalism. And that's what he's saying right
here. Not use what God gave you. This is everyday living. Same
thing with healing. I don't blame blood transfusions.
I don't blame medicine. I don't blame hospitals. You're
fatalists. That's what you are. God uses means. And if there's
no means available, same thing with hospitalization. If you're
down in the New Guinea as a missionary, and there's no way for your family
to be covered with any hospitalization to take care of you in the event
of an illness. I understand. That's faith. Faith anyway. It's
faith if you have it or don't have it. But, brother, if you
can't have it and don't have it, that's foolishness. That's
foolishness. You're not immune from disease.
You're not immune. If you're a 20-year-old boy who's
driving a car and runs over somebody, You're going to break you and
your family and everybody else trying to pay that lawsuit. Why
don't you have insurance? I got faith. I don't need insurance.
Well, you're a little foolish, too, if you want your pastor's
advice. That's fatalism. It's the same
thing as me walking up here on Sunday morning and saying, well,
if God's going to honor the word, he'll honor the word, no use
me studying all day Friday and Saturday and getting something
to preach and looking up the commentaries and studying. God will bless
me. That's fatalism. And if you sit there and you
say, well, if I'm one of the elect, I'll be saved. If I'm
one of the elect, no use going to church, no use studying, no
use seeking the Lord, no use crying after God, no use witnessing
to my children. You talk about disciplining your
children. I tell you, you correct them and you feed them right
and try to teach them to be honest and live right and take them
to church, they still might turn out to be no count. But I'm telling
you this. If you don't use the means and
the wisdom and the judgment God gave you, you're tempting God
is what you're doing. You're fatalistic. You're fatalistic. Did you seek his mercy? You say,
I'm not saved. Well, from one elect he'll save
me. Have you sought his mercy? Have you asked God to save you?
Do you plead your inability? Have you pled his grace? Have you heard the word? Have
you camped on the doorstep of some preacher you know is preaching
the gospel and said, I'm going to stay here till I hear? Have
you walked in the light God gave you? Have you? Yes, sir, Lord,
I tell you, you gave me one pound, and here's ten. I've studied,
and I've sought the Lord, and I've cried out unto you, and
I've knocked, and you've heard me, and well done. No, Lord,
I didn't do it. I knew that you reap where you
don't sow." No, he don't either. No, he don't, Jim. He reaps where
he's sowed. He reaps where it's watered,
where it's plowed and prepared, where men build. Isn't that right?
Where men hear the Word. And we're going to go, I tell
you, and preach the gospel and hardshellism and fatalism. I'm
as scared of it as of them Arminianism. God said, you're a wicked servant. He said to those people, those
people that come, said, we did this, we did that, we did the
other. He said, you're workers of iniquity. The other people
can't say, we didn't do nothing because we believe you're sovereign.
You're wicked. In other words, he said the same thing to both
of them. Same thing. You're wicked, and
we'll damn you out of your own mouth. So faith or fatalism? You say
there's a thin line? Maybe so, but there is a line.
And we walk in the light, I tell you this, I'm going to, if God
gives me ten more years, or five more, or three more, I'm going
to cry after him like Jacob held on, I'm not going to let you
go, you bless me. I'm going to give it all, old Scott said,
I'm going to give it my best shot. And if you're sitting here
this morning, I'm telling you, he's coming back. If I was you,
I'd give it my best shot. I'd want to be in that number
when the saints go marching in. And I'll tell you, I don't want
the Lord to say to me when I come to the end of the way that, well,
here, everything's like you left it. I knew you could do it if
you wanted to. You're a wicked serpent. I don't know. I don't like that old saying,
pray like it all depended on God, because it does, and work
like it all depended on you. I couldn't work that way. If
I was alone, I couldn't do any good. That's no good, is it?
Our cliché is usually no good. We need the Word. But I tell
you this. God is sovereign. I know it. He has a people. He's
gonna call them. Christ died for them. He'll see
the travail of his soul be satisfied and the pleasure of the Lord
prosper in his hand. But God uses means, and I want to be
that means. I want to be that witness. I
want to be that person that helps those young people and talks
to them and encourages them and prays for them and loves them
and lives for God and that person that seeks the Lord and does
everything in my power to bring forth the unity of the Spirit
among his people and in his assembly and live for God. Don't you?
Don't you? Our Father, we thank you for
your Word. Our Lord Jesus came to this earth. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He intercedes right now for us
on our behalf at your right hand. He's coming again. Oh, that we
may be faithful. lay whole on eternal life, glorifying
our Lord, preaching the gospel, loving one another, occupying
till he comes, using the light he gives us, walking in the light
he gives us. Lord, make us a faithful steward. It's required in a steward that
he be found faithful. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but not thy word. All the monuments on which they
inscribe our names on this earth are going to crumble and fall
to the dust but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. This is it. The fashion of this
world fadeth away, but our God reigneth. Oh, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection. Lord, bless your word. Bless
your word. Deliver us from strong delusions,
being damned for believing a lie and hating the light. We pray
for Christ's sake, amen.