Fear. Paul said, I was with you in
much fear, in fear and trembling. Scripture talks about the fear
of the Lord being the beginning of wisdom. And the prophet said, come and
I'll teach you how you ought to fear the Lord. There's as much said in the Old
Testament scriptures about the fear of the Lord as there is
about the love of God. And people in Old Testament days
who were identified with God were identified in this way,
he feared the Lord. Isn't that correct? He feared
the Lord. And the rebels of our day are
identified in Romans chapter 3 as people before whose eyes
there is no fear of God. Fear. I want you to turn first
of all to Isaiah chapter 6. I'm going to read some scriptures
to which I've referred so many times, but I have just briefly
and paraphrasingly quoted them. This time I'm going to read them.
A revelation of God's holiness struck fear in the heart of Isaiah. A revelation of God's holiness.
He says in Isaiah 1, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, His train
filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings, with two he covered his face, with
two he covered his feet, with two he did fly. And one cried
unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, for I
am undone, I'm cut off. That's the word, I'm cut off.
Because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. That's fear. That's fear. Woe is me. I'm cut off. I'm cut off. Now turn with me
to the book of Job. A revelation of God's holiness
struck fear in the heart of Isaiah. A revelation of God's power and
omniscience struck fear in the heart of Job. Job chapter 40.
And these were special men. This wasn't the run of the mill
individual of that day. These were men who would be regarded
as unusual, gifted, moral, righteous men. These were leaders of the
people. In Job 40, in fact, God himself
said of Job, he is a righteous man who fears God and hates evil. But when he saw the Lord, Job
40, I'll just let you follow it. Moreover, the Lord answered
Job, Job chapter 40, and said, Shall he that contendeth with
the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him
answer it. Then Job answered the Lord and
said, Behold, I am thou. What shall I answer thee? I lay
my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer, yea, twice. But I'll proceed no further."
In Job 42, verse 5 and 6, listen to this. This is fear, great
fear. He said, I've heard of thee,
I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, I repent
in sackcloth and ashes. That's fear. That's trembling
before the power and omniscience of God. Luke chapter 5. Here's an incident I don't think
I've ever heard anyone preach a sermon from this passage. Luke
chapter 5. I've referred to it a time or
two. I've heard others refer to it. But in Luke the 5th chapter,
verse 5 through 9, a revelation of Christ's sovereignty. Christ's
absolute, unchangeable sovereignty. fearful sovereignty even over
the fish of the sea." We talk about Christ being sovereign
over the wind, the weather, the elements, over men, kings and
kingdoms and armies and all these things. But here He is sovereign
over the fish and where they swim, and where they form their
schools. He said, Preacher, you're going
too far. All right, look at Luke 5. Luke 5, verse 4, Now when
he left speaking, he turned to Simon, and he said, Launch out
into the deep, and let down your net for a draught. And Simon
answering said, Master, now here's an expert fisherman, here's a
man that's made his living fishing all of his life, who knew that
sea like the back of his hand. Peter knew that lake. He said,
Master, I've toiled all night, and I've taken nothing. Nevertheless,
at your word, I let down the net. And when they had done this,
they enclosed a great multitude of fish and their net break,
and they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other
ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and
filled both the ships so that they began to sink. Now, I've
heard that preached on, but listen to Peter's response and reaction.
This, I haven't heard a message. When Simon Peter saw it, the
power of Christ, the absolute sovereignty of Christ, even over
the fish, even over the fish, when he saw it, he fell down
at Jesus' knees saying, Lord, depart from me. I am a sinful
man. You've got no business keeping
company with me. One of your greatness, one of
your majesty, one of your sovereignty has no business keeping company
with me. I'm in company too far ahead
of me, too much above me. We have no reason to be seen
together. You're too much sovereignty and
majesty and I'm too much sin and corruption. And if you will, turn to Revelation
1. Now here is John, a revelation of God, Revelation chapter 1.
A revelation of God's holiness struck fear in the heart of Isaiah.
Isaiah, a revelation of God's power and omniscience struck
fear in the heart of Job. And a revelation of Christ's
sovereignty, even over the fish of the sea, struck fear in Peter's
heart. Up to that time, Peter, I suppose,
thought he was, you know, he and Christ were partners and
co-pilots and all this different sort of thing. And he was going
to reign in the kingdom with Christ and sit on one of the
thrones and all this. And when he saw what he was dealing
with, when he saw the company he was keeping, when he saw the
one with whom he was associating and his majesty and his power
and his authority, he just said, I'm in above my head. I'm just
in over my head and Lord, you just need to find somebody else
and depart from me because I'm a sinful man. I'm a sinful man. I'm an empty creature. Now if you remember, this is
the one who at the Lord's Supper at the last table, this is what
we call the beloved disciple, and he was so intimate with Christ.
He was so intimate, he even leaned his head on Christ's breast at
the Last Supper. You know the pictures of the
Lord's table, they have John leaning his head. Well, that's
scriptural, I suppose, and he was leaning his head. That intimacy,
that closeness, he took upon himself to enter into that type
of relationship and to touch the Master. He said, when he
wrote 1 John, he said, what our hands have handled, what we've
seen and heard, declare we unto you. But he had that closer fellowship
with Christ that he didn't hesitate to touch him, to touch him, to
lean his head on his breath. Now, wait a minute, listen, watch
this. When he saw the glory of Christ, a revelation of the glory,
the resurrected glory of Christ, I want you to listen to his reaction. Verse 12 of Revelation 1, and
I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned,
I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like them to the Son of Man, clothed with
a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden
girdle. His head, his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his feet were as a flame
of fire. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire,
and his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace,
and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his
right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword, I suppose the word of God, and his countenance His
countenance was as the sun shineth in its strength. You think of
his countenance as the sun shining in its full strength. No leaning
on his breast there. No me and Jesus got a good thing
going there. No familiarity there. When I saw him, when I saw him,
I jumped. I fell at his feet as dead. You know, I think it might be
said also as the Apostle Paul grew in the knowledge of God's
greatness and God's grace and the knowledge of himself and
his unworthiness. I know the Scriptures inspired.
I know that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit to write this Word. to write this Word. This is not
the Word of men, this is the Word of God. And yet the Lord
did not bypass the personality. The Word is the inspired Word
of God, the God-breathed Word of God, and yet it's so written
by these men that their personalities shine forth in the writing thereof. God doesn't bypass the personality
and bypass the individual. You can even tell by the way
they write and the way they talk who wrote the books. There are
certain things, characteristics of certain writers, and yet it
is the Word of God. And yet being the Word of God,
it does not bypass the writer's personality nor fail to reveal
his own growth. For example, I'll tell you about
Paul. Early in his ministry, in some of his early writings,
he said this, I am not worthy to be an apostle. I'm not worthy
to be an apostle. Now, that in itself is strong
language. I'm a preacher. He said, I'm
not one whit behind the chief apostle, though I'm not worthy
to be an apostle. He said, who is Peter? Who is
Apollos? Who is Paul? We're nothing. the planters and sowers. God
is the husband, but we're nothing. But then later on he wrote in
a book and he said this. This is a little stronger. There's
a little more humility shining forth here. He said, I am less
than the least of all the saints. I'm less than the least. Here
this great apostle, this founder of churches, this writer of scripture,
this man intimate with God. is saying, take all of the believers
in the churches, and he said, you can put me beneath the least
one. I am less than the least of all
believers, all the saints, because I persecuted the church of Christ. And then in one of his last books,
he's sitting down there in prison writing to Timothy. In one of
his last books that he ever wrote, the old man, the white-haired
old man, is sitting down there in jail. And he's dictating a
book to the man who wrote it for him. And he said, this is
a faithful thing. Let it be preached. Let it be
declared. Let it be accepted by all men.
Worthy of acceptation by all men. That Jesus Christ came into
this world. He visited this world to save
sinners. That was his mission. Of whom
I am chief. That's even stronger. Christ
came to save sinners of whom I am chief. What I'm saying is
this. I'm saying that the more a true believer learns, the more
there is revealed to him the greatness and majesty and might
and power and glory of God Almighty and everything about God, His
throne, His kingdom, His word, His church. his ministry, his
gospel, the older we get and the more we grow in an understanding
of the holiness and the power and the sovereignty and the glory
of God, the more we're going to see of our own sinfulness,
wretchedness, unworthiness, and inability. Now what I'm saying is something
that I'm experiencing. And I know a few that are experiencing
this. The general run of religionists
with whom I have associated through the years, they get a little
more cocky, they get a little more haughty, they get a little
more righteous, they get a little more sure of themselves. That's right. They get a little
more confident. They can lay hold of a situation.
They need a little less preparation. They can put everything off to
the last minute. They just don't need to bury themselves. There's
some old believers and there's some bold believers. There ain't many old, bold believers. There's some old believers that
have seen some things. They've seen some glory. They've
seen some majesty. They've seen their indebtedness.
When I stand before His throne, dressed in beauty, not my own,
then, my God, I shall know just how much I owe." And there's
some folks realizing that. There's some folks who are seeing
the majesty and the glory and the power of God. If you folks
have been around long enough to see some of that, and there's some
cocky, haughty, proud, Got the world by the tail on a downhill
pole, believers, but there ain't many old, bold believers. Because the more we see of His
majesty, the more we see of His grace, the more we see of our
own unworthiness. Huh? Turn to Isaiah 40 and listen
to Isaiah talking over here. Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40
verse 6. Listen to this. Isaiah 40, verse
6, the voice said, Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh
is grass, and all the goodliness or glory of the flesh is as a
flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. That's when we started it, Preacher.
And also that's the whole journey. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of the Lord standeth forever." The contemplation,
here's what I'm saying, the contemplation of the greatness and the glory
and the majesty and the sovereignty of God, the contemplation of
our own infirmities, our own afflictions, our own failures
results in great fear. In a great fear, a fear of God. And that thing grows, and anybody
that's honest with you will tell you that at some time, every
believer will tell you at some time he experiences some of these
fears. And I'm going to deal with four
of them tonight. Here they are, I'll just give them to you. There's
so many fears, but here are four that I think are perhaps the
most prevalent with all of us, and I can handle them from Romans
chapter 8, if you turn over there, Romans the 8th chapter. I believe
everybody here can identify with this right here. I'm coming at
you not only from the scripture but from my personal experience.
These are four fears with which I struggle and have struggled
and I expect to struggle. The first one is the fear of
satanic attack. Now Satan is very real, very
real. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 5. Satan
is very real. I hear preachers sometimes on
television and other places saying to believers, now you just tell
the devil to go on back to hell. Don't you? You just challenge
him and doesn't the scripture say resist him? But now let me
tell you something. Paul talks about Satan's subtlety. Subtlety. He says, I fear lest
Satan in his subtlety, this is in 2 Corinthians 11, should deceive
you like he did Eve, and take you away from the simplicity
of Christ. Satan is so subtle, he's so crafty,
he's so deceitful. Somebody said he knows human
nature better than anybody but God. Somebody said Satan is an
expert student of human nature. He's been studying it for 6,000
years. He's been practicing his craft
on human nature for 6,000 years. He knows where to touch us. He
knows when to touch us. He knows how to touch us. And
he knows how to cover the hook with the bait so that you can't
even see it. Oh, what a subtle creature. What
a crafty creature. I'll tell you this. I want to
show you something in a minute, but look at 1 Peter 5, verse 6. 1
Peter 5, 6, humble yourselves. Come on down, Barnard used to
say, off your high horse. Come on down off your high horse.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
that He, in His own pleasure and purpose, may exalt you in
due time, in His own good pleasure, in His own time. You don't need
to exalt yourself. Christ will in his own time.
Cast all your care upon him, upon Christ. You don't need to
fight for yourself. The battle is the Lord. He cares
for you. Be sober. Be vigilant. Because
your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, as a roaring
lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. whom resist, steadfastly
resist him in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. You say,
why did you read that? I read that to show you of the reality
of Satan. He's not omnipresent, but he's
present. He's not omnipotent, but he's
powerful. He's not omniscient, he doesn't
know everything, but he's a heap smarter than we are. Now I'll
tell you this. Adam could relate some things
about Satan's subtlety. And I'll tell you this, Job could
write a book on Satan's power. He could write a book on Satan's
power. And Peter, the apostle, the one
who bragged so much, the one with such confidence, the impulsive
Peter, he fell before Satan's onslaught. And even the Apostle
Paul in writing to a church said this, he said, Satan hath hindered
me. Satan hindered me. He had some
conflicts with Satan. Even our Lord Jesus Christ was
taken up on the mountain and tempted personally by Satan for
so many days. Turn to the book of Jude. Now
here's a shocking scripture. I think this would be an answer
to those who underestimate the subtlety and power of Satan.
I think this would answer those who carelessly get involved in
what we call demonism and casting out demons and playing with these
things. Jude verse 6, I beg your pardon,
Jude verse 8. He talks about these filthy dreamers
who defile the flesh, who despise dominion, who speak evil of dignities,
who speak evil of position and authority and power, speaking
evil of things they don't even understand. Yet, Michael, the
archangel, Michael the archangel, When contending with the devil,
he disputed about the body of Moses. Even Michael did not bring
a railing against Satan, a railing accusation. Even Michael did
not take it upon himself to rebuke Satan or to have any dealings
with him. But rather he said, Satan, the
Lord rebuked thee. And I'll tell you this, when
we talk about Satan, I believe our best refuge is to flee to
the blood of Christ and flee to the arms of Christ and say,
Lord, handle this for me. I'm up against an enemy too powerful
for me, too wise for me, too crafty for me, too deceitful
for me. I'm going to have to be like
Peter of old. Lord, pray for me. Pray for me. Deliver me.
But here in Romans chapter 8, if you turn back over there,
I see something to allay my fears in reference to Satan. Now, I've
pictured, you say, you've presented a pretty strong case for Satan.
Alright, I've wanted to, I've tried to. He's powerful, he's
mighty, he's strong, he's like a roaring lion, he's seeking
whom he may devour, he'll tear up churches, he'll tear up people,
he'll destroy whatever he can destroy. Well, what are we going
to do? All right, look at Romans 8,
verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, that's God's foreordination,
God back in eternity chose a people. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that Christ might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Now, God's got a purpose, God's
got a plan. People say, God's got a plan
for your life. I'm saying God's got a plan for Christ. for Christ. Christ. And we're in Christ.
God chose us in Christ. And he's predestinated us to
be like Christ. Moreover, verse 30, whom he did
predestinate, he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. Now what shall we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? That is your
refuge. That is about the only thing
you can use to allay the fear of the attacks of Satan, of the
power of Satan, of this conflict with Satan. If God be for me,
who can be against me? Who can be against me? That's
what he's saying. Who can be against me? If God is for me
in covenant mercies, if God is for me in electing love, if God
is for me in redemption, if God is for me in substitution, if
God is for me in high priestly intercession, then I don't have
to fear Satan and his attacks. I don't have to fear that Satan
is going to win victory over my soul if God's for me. Now
then, if God's not for me, I'm like a leaf before a roaring
storm. I'm like a leaf before a raging
forest fire. I have no strength in myself.
All right, here's the second fear, the fear of our sins. There are not many religionists,
there are not many church members who care to reflect upon or mention
their sins. This is one thing I find wrong
with biographies. This is one thing I find wrong
with testimonies. That the average biography seems
to indicate that the person of whom they're writing didn't have
any faults. Didn't have any infirmities,
didn't have any struggles, didn't have any doubts, didn't have
any fears. But honest believers are concerned about their sins. They fear their sins. They fear
their flesh. Look at Romans 7. Listen to Paul,
Romans 7, verse 15. And I tell you, sin takes so
many directions. There's the sin of omission and
commission. There are secret sins and there
are open sins. There are sins of action and
there are sins of attitude. I said one Sunday here, what
I haven't done, at least I've thought. There are sins of thought
and imagination. There are sins of flesh and sins
of spirit. And Paul is talking about these
here in Romans 7, 15. He said, that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not.
What I hate, that's what I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent to the law that is good. Now, it's no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I know that in me, that
is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. The will is present with
me. But how to perform that which
is perfect, that which is holy, I do not find in myself the ability. For the good that I would, I
do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that, I would not. It's no more I that do it. It's
not the spiritual me. It's not the regenerated Paul.
It's sin that dwelleth in me. I find a law, a principle that
when I would do, when I would pray, My thoughts are fleshly. When I would worship, my thoughts
are carnal. What I would give, sacrificially,
the flesh rebels against it. When I would do this, when I
would do that, evil is present with me. It's present with me. I'm not a totally spiritual man,
I'm a fleshly man. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, but I see another law in my members. I see the
presence of another law, of another principle, of another person,
of another school of thought, warring against the spiritual
law of my mind, and too often bringing me into captivity to
that principle of sin which is in my mind. Oh, wretched man
that I am. You ever wrestle with that? You
ever battle with that? Well, what's the answer? David
said, my sins are ever before me. Always. Never leave. Always
that. Can't think on Christ for thinking
on my sin. Can't think on the blood for
thinking on my evil. Well, let's look at Romans 8
again, verse 32. How can we relieve these fears?
All right, here you are. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered Christ up for us all. How shall he not with Christ
freely give us all things? What things? Righteousness, redemption,
holiness, sanctification, pardon, forgiveness, life. That's why
Christ came. He said, I came to seek and to
save the lost. I came that they might have life
and have it more abundantly. I came, I am the bread of life,
eat and live, I am the water of life, drink and live, I am
the door, come through me and go in and out and find pasture.
If Christ died for us, shall not God with Christ give us all
these things? Verse 33. Who's going to lay
any charge to God's elect? Anything to the charge of God's
elect. It's God that justifies. Well, shall not God charge us?
No, he said it's God that justifies. Well, shall not the law charge
us? No, Christ has satisfied the law. The law is content.
Well, shall not Satan charge us? Oh, no. Christ said, the
prince of this world came and found nothing in me. I defeated
him and drove him away. He's got no charge to bring against
the child of God. Our sins are very, very real. Are yours real? But I tell you
this, his death is very, very real. My sins are very, very
real, but His righteousness is very, very real. And if God spared
not His Son, but delivered Him up for us in our stead, in our
place, shall God not give us all things that Christ purchased?
Huh? Let that take your fears away. Let that lift your burden
and lift your doubts and fears. I'm not saying that we are to
go on in a giddy, happy-go-lucky, foolish way, my sins are gone,
you know, hoop-dee-doo, you know. I know that there is rejoicing
Christ, but brethren, we're under great burden, aren't we? And
we're not going to quit the fight or quit the battle. or stop wrestling
against our flesh, the flesh warring against the Spirit and
the Spirit against the flesh so you can't do the things that
you would. But let's not keep looking at the battle all the
time because you'll be so fearful and doubtful and all. Let's look
to the cross. There mercy was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was purchased for
me at Calvary. That's where Paul looks here.
He looks to the cross. All right, here's the third fear.
It roams around in our minds, these fears, these fears, these
fears. Fear of Satan. But Christ has
conquered Satan. Fear of our sins, our sins. But Christ paid for our sins.
He paid for our sins. But fear of final condemnation. Now, I can tell you, you don't
think, you know, it's hard to find an honest man. I know a
little bit what Ralph was talking about one time when he said,
honest people don't wind up in hell. Honestly, people who come
clean with God. And I can tell you this, that
there is no fear that I ever experienced that's quite like
this one. There's nothing to be compared
with this. Every time I read this scripture, quote this scripture,
there's a thud right here in my stomach. I mean literally. And there's a tingling in the
back of my neck because it's so dreadful and so unthinkable
and yet so possible. Don't you think it's not? And
many are going to hear it. Lord, have we not preached in
your name and cast out death and done many wonderful works,
only to hear him say, depart from me, I never knew you. Can you read that and not feel,
oh, I'm saved. Well, bless your heart, I'm glad
you are. That's about all I can say. I'm
glad you have that kind of I'm sorry you have that presumption,
but maybe your refuge will do you some good. But I'll tell
you this, I'll tell you this, a reasonable, honest man knows
that salvation is a gift and salvation by the grace of God
and salvation in Christ. And brethren, I'm telling you
this, I can only answer one thing to that. Look at Romans 8.34,
Romans 8.34. I'm not going to say I preached,
or I made a decision, or I joined the church, or I've been baptized,
or I've lived the best I could. I'm going to say this. Who is
he that condemned me? And I'll give you four reasons
for that fear to be allayed. And these are the only, Charlie,
only four reasons I know. Only four reasons. Christ died. That's it. That's where it all
is. I don't know any other reason for God not to tell me, depart
from me, except one reason, and that's Christ died. I know of
no other reason. I'm being totally honest with
you. I know of no other reason for God Almighty to say to me,
not to say to me, depart from me, I never knew you, bind him
hand and foot and cast him into hell. I know of no reason for
God not to say that to me. Personally, except one reason.
Christ died, John. That's the only reason. Christ
died. Well, Paul gives four reasons.
He said, not only did Christ die, but He rose again. Yea,
rather, is risen again. He is risen again. You say, preacher,
your preaching along this line causes people not to be sure. Well, brethren, we can't be sure
of this flesh. We can be sure of Him. We can
be sure of His sacrifice. I'm redeemed if my faith's in
Christ. I'm redeemed if I'm a child of
God. I'm redeemed if Christ died for me. I'm redeemed if He intercedes
for me. I'm redeemed on that basis, not
on the basis of what I've done or haven't done. It's on the
basis of Christ's sacrifice. God does business with His Son
and with us in His Son. It's just like when you get in
trouble or something, you hire a lawyer. And he, the judge is
on the bench and your lawyer's here. Don't you get up and skedaddle
up there and start talking to the judge. Your lawyer goes for
you. Isn't that right, Bill? Your
lawyer goes and stands there and talks to the judge for you.
Christ is my advocate. And I'll tell you, if he doesn't
represent me and if he doesn't stand for me, I'm, see, I'm guilty.
There ain't no question about that. I'm a guilty fellow. But if Christ can't get me off,
I'm not gonna get off. And you see what he pleads, my
advocate, he doesn't plead, my goodness, he doesn't, well, Father,
he's done pretty good since he changed and he's kind of straightened
up. He just stands there and says,
Father, he's guilty, he's guilty, he's sinful, he ought to be sent
to hell, but Father, see these wounds? I died for it. See this
blood? I suffered for it. See this righteousness? I worked it out for it. He's
clean. because of what I did. Now that's
it. You don't do business with God. Christ does. Is that too
hard to say? That's so. That's so. You don't
do business with God. You do business with Christ.
He does business with the Father. And he's not going to plead what
you've said and done and given and all these things. He stands
there before the magistrate, before the throne, before God's
tribunal, before the highest court, and he says, set him free. I died for him. He pleads his
wounds. And the only reason I'm not going
to, who is he that condemneth? Our Lord says, not everyone says,
Lord, Lord, it's going to end the kingdom of heaven. For many
shall say to me in that day, Lord, we preached, we did these
things. I never knew you. What's to keep
me from hearing that? It's just right here. Who is
he that condemned it? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
he is risen again. He is even at the right hand
of God. He also maketh intercession for
us. That's it. And that's where it
all is. All is. Now here's the fourth
fear. And that is the fear of falling away. Some do. In fact, many do. In fact, John
wrote about it. He said, they departed from us. Paul wrote about it in Hebrews.
He said, they're like the dog that's turned to its vomit, like
the pig that's returned to the watering in the mire. He said,
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. Judas
was one of the 12. He departed. There's so many
accounts in the Word of God of those who've departed from Christ,
who walk no more with All the way through the four, what we
call Gospels, it said they listened to Him and they walked no more
with Him, or they followed Him for a time and then they walked
no more with Him. They walked no more with Him.
My friends, this thing of salvation is in three tenses. The Bible,
we must, and I talked to my Sunday school class about this this
morning. And this doesn't lessen the truth of instantaneous salvation. Not at all. He that believeth
is saved if he truly believes. But you see, it takes time to
reveal whether that faith is true faith. That's where we run
in what we're talking about perseverance. In other words, it's true if
a man truly repents by the Spirit's operation, if he truly believes,
by the Spirit's power if he truly receives Christ. He's saved and
always will be saved. But there are a lot of folks
who say they truly believe whose hearts are deceived. The heart's
desperately wicked. It's deceitful above all things.
Who can know it? There is false faith. There are
plenty of examples in the Word of God. Many followed Him because
of the miracles. Many followed Him because of
the loaves and fishes. Judas followed Him three and
a half years. That was his whole life, the
whole ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then quit. And then
sold him out. So what I'm saying, I'm not denying
that faith saves, that repentance and faith save. A man is saved. But because we declare him saved,
and he declares himself saved, and the church declares him saved,
don't mean God declares him saved. And that's what I'm saying, we
have been saved, we're being saved, and our salvation is nearer
than when we believe. And that's the reason so many
folks get fouled up on Hebrews chapter 6, those enlightened
and illuminated and all these different things, if they should
fall away, there's no more repentance. But Paul's just warning us, he's
set out to warn us. And I tell you, through all the
years of my ministry, I've seen preachers depart from what we
call the gospel. I've seen deacons depart from
what we call the gospel. I've seen elders depart. I've
seen men last for a year, seen them last for two years, seen
them last for five years, seen them last for 10 years, seen
them last for 30 years, and then quit. And then quit. I've seen them go back into Arminianism
or freewillism. I've seen them go into entertainment. I've seen young ladies sing,
supposedly for the glory of God, to make a congregation weep and
get some high money offer and just go into it just like they
never did believe the gospel. And this is what I'm saying.
I'm simply saying how long you're going to last. But if you're one of His own,
you'll last eternally. And that will be an evidence.
Now, Brother Barnard said one time, a young lady said, do you think
I'm saved? And he said, I don't know, honey.
Why don't you see me in 30 years? And let's see if you're still
trusting Christ. Let's see if you're still walking in the Word.
Let's see if you're still looking to the cross. Let's see if you're
still fellowshipping with the redeemed. Let's see if you're
still identifying. Will I continue? Let's see the
promise in Romans 8, 35. Where are we going to get anything?
Where are we going to get any strength here? Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Now brethren, we can be separated
from a profession, we can be separated from a job, from a
vocation, we can be separated from serving in a church, we
can be separated from a lot of things, by a lot of things, for
a lot of reasons. But the love of Christ, that's
what, the love of Christ, my love for Him, oh no, His love
for me. That's where it is. Who shall
separate me from thyself? Tribulation. Trials, no matter
how severe. Trials. Distress. Oh, sometimes
the distress is really tough. It's rough. The persecution.
Persecution. Hated for my sake. Famine. Got
enough money to pay my bills. Can't afford this, that nakedness,
peril or sword, conflict, war. No, sir, as it is written, for
thy sake, we're killed all the day long. We experience all these
things. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. But in all these things, we're more than conquerors through
him that loved us. These are good parts. That's
what I was talking about a while ago. Jay and I were talking about
it. These things are good parts. I tell you, actually, it's not
trials that that bring down a believer nearly
so much as prosperity. It's not failure, it's success.
He's in more danger when he's standing in the sunshine than
he is in the rain. He's in more danger on the mountain than he
is in the valley. These are things that just help us conquer. For
I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord." Now
here's the question, and this is the question of question.
There's no possibility of God's elect perishing. No possibility. But here's the question that
needs to be settled in every heart. Am I in Christ? Am I just
in religion? Am I just in a in a form of religion
or am I really, sincerely, definitely for all eternity in Jesus Christ.