Matthew 26, 39, there's one word
that I'd like to impress upon your
minds throughout this message. That's the word nevertheless.
It means however, however, or it means in spite of that. It
says in verse 39, he went a little further and fell on his face
and prayed saying, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me, however, in spite of that, not as I will, but as you will. Now the inspiration for this
sermon this morning, I'm real excited about it, I feel like
the Lord has given me something to give to you. The inspiration
for this sermon came to me from one of our young mothers. A couple in this church have had
a very sick baby for a few days, very ill, very distressed and
troubled about this baby. I have been and I know that they
have been very distressed and very concerned. I'm glad to report
today that The child shows marked improvement. We're greatly encouraged. He's home from the hospital.
She is. But this young mother was talking to one of the ladies
of our church this week, and she said, she said, I want God to heal
my child. I want my baby to be made well.
I want it desperately. I want it very, very much. But
my question is, how do I pray about my baby, how do I ask God
to heal my baby strongly and very enthusiastically, and yet
at the same time, I want God's will done. Now how do I pray
that way? I think all of us are faced with
this conflict in a way, I have it quite often, I believe you
do. We pray about a matter, not just about sickness, I don't
know why we always think about sickness when we think about
prayer. But we have conflicts, we have problems, we have needs. I want very much to to preach
powerfully the Word of God this morning. I want it desperately.
I want it, I believe, sincerely. I want it, I believe, for the
right purpose, God's glory. However, I want God's will done. I want very much for this message
to be a message of salvation, not condemnation. But it may
be His will to make it your condemnation. He said we have something for
everybody. He said, to one with a sweet
fragrance of life unto life, to another the bad fragrance
of death upon death. Well, I'm just not desirous to
be that minister, to have that type of ministry. Noah did. Different ones. Ezekiel. Jeremiah
did. The weeping prophet. He had a
condemning ministry. And others did. But you see what
I'm saying? I'm saying we have a conflict.
Number one, we want this child to get well. I do. You do. We want a particular matter dissolved
in a way that will bless us and bless our family and bless the
church, and we hope bring glory to God. We want this need met. But secondly, we want God's will
done. Now, do you or don't you? I want
God's will done. If he's pleased to take the life
of a person, I want to be able to say, Thy will be done. I don't
want to pray contrary to the will of God. Now, that's this
question was posed. And I believe the Lord gave me
an answer right here in this verse of Scripture, in Matthew
26, 39. Actually, the first thought that
came to my mind when this question was posed was this Scripture
right here. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Garden of Gethsemane,
his experience, in which he cried, O my Father, and Bobby prayed
it three times, the same words, O my Father, O my Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But each time he
added, however, nevertheless, thy will be done. And I say unto
you, that's the answer to me. That satisfied me completely
with this child. As much as I love these parents
and this child, as much as I want this done, it satisfied me completely. It gave me peace of heart, it
gave me peace of, as far as theology, as far as my relationship with
God, that I can knock with importunity, I can knock with persistency,
I can knock with perseverance, I can keep on. Keep on, our Lord
did three times. I can keep on, Lord, I want this,
I want this, I want this, I want this, but each time, nevertheless,
thy will be done. Now that satisfies me, Joe. And
I believe it ought to satisfy every one of us. I believe it's
the answer. Now, let's look at this a moment. And if I have
time this morning, I'm going to take you into seven situations
where this very word is used. It fascinated me when I came
back to the study. I told Doris was riding in the
car. I said, jot that down. Nevertheless, I want to work
on that. And I believe I see some magnificent
things here. First of all, we're taking the
matter of prayer. Talk about the matter of prayer. I'll never
be able to reconcile this prayer of our Lord in Gethsemane's garden
with a desire on his part not to go to the cross. I just cannot
reconcile that with the rest of the Scripture or the rest
of His words. When our Lord went into this
garden of Gethsemane and fell on His face weeping and praying,
and the Scripture says in one point that His blood came through
the pores of His body. He sweat, as it were, great drops
of blood. Some turmoil The agony and turmoil,
this experience was so traumatic that his blood just flowed through
the veins. I mean, through the pores of
his skin. And he said, I'm sorry for even unto death. In other
words, what I believe the Lord is saying is, I'm going to die
right here in this garden. There's not going to be any cross.
There's not going to be any Calvary. There's not going to be any Golgotha.
My nature is not going to live through this experience. I really
believe that's what he's saying. And I have several reasons for
that. Turn to Luke 22. At the end of that prayer in
Luke 22, it says in verse 43, there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. You see that? Luke 22, 43.
There appeared at that time unto him from heaven an angel. strengthening
him. Now, you and I don't realize,
we really don't feel sin like Christ felt sin. There's no way. We're not even akin to it. We're
not even commenced to begin to get started. Our Lord, in his
infinite mental capacity, emotional capacity, heart, greatness, love,
holiness, purity. I gave this illustration one
time. If a gang of boys some Saturday night, went downtown here and found
one of the prostitutes or harlots down the street and assaulted
her. That'd give her great conflict.
I know that. But not like if he were to take
one of these young ladies in the church here, 17 years old,
been raised in a Christian home, Christian influence, godly atmosphere,
and drug her down. You think what it'd do to her.
The prostitute wouldn't have any problem with it more than
likely. I'm not being vulgar now or rude. I'm just saying
she'd survive that. This girl wouldn't. She would
not survive it. Now that's what I'm saying. Our
Lord, now you could put the weight of my sin on me, my guilt and
my despair, and even the weight of God's wrath, and it'd tear
me up and trouble me. But not like him, Joe. Not like
when our sins fell on Christ, when the prospects of His Father's
separation, when the prospects of bearing the guilt of a world,
the prospects of hanging naked, shamed on a Roman tree, the prospects
of being separated from the Father, all of these things descended
upon Him in this garden of Gethsemane. Our Lord said, I'm going to die
right here. I'm going to die right here.
My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." And so he cried
to the Father. You see, it wasn't just on Calvary
that Christ suffered. His soul, he made his soul an
offering for sin, not just his body. Sometimes when we look
at the physical sufferings of Christ, we lose the main sufferings. Yes, he bled physically, he died
physically, and most of our songs are about that. But brethren,
it was nothing like his soul agony. He made his soul an offering
for sin. You see, a lot of preachers put
the emphasis on the fire in hell. I don't even know whether there's
going to be any fire in hell. Actual, literal fire. Bill, I
don't know that. What difference does it make? It's hell to be
separated from God. It's hell to be separated from
everything that's light and life and truth and beauty and glory.
That's hell. And whether or not, I know he
said, I'm tormented in this flame. And preachers just work on that
and pronounce anathema on you if you don't see and preach fire
in hell and just stick your finger in a candle and feel how it burns.
That's what hell is. Brethren, I'll tell you something.
My God, why hasst thou forsaken me was the only time Christ ever
cried on that cross. They drove the nails and he didn't
open his mouth. They put the whip to his back,
and he, like a sheep before her, shivers his dumb, he didn't open
his mouth. They pressed the crown of thorns into his brow, and
the pain was severe, he never opened his mouth. But when God
the Father withheld his presence, he screamed. And that's when
you go and I will scream in hell when we're separated. Depart
from me. That's what he said. That's hell.
Depart from me. So our Lord cried, and I think
this is the answer to prayer. I think this is the way to pray.
I don't think it, I know it. He cried to the Father's throne. He approached in perseverance
the Father's throne. And the same words, over, over,
over again. But always with this comment,
however. Lord, let this cup pass from
me. My soul is exceeding sorrowful
even unto death. This agony, let this cup pass
from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. I'll die where you say die. I'll
suffer where you say suffer. And so I think this is where
the matter rests. In trial or affliction, don't desert the
prayer closet and excuse it with wanting God's will done. Now
that's not right. Our Lord didn't do that. If anybody
believed in sovereignty, it was the master. If anybody knew that
God would do what he would do, it was the master. Anybody knew
the will of God would be done as a master, but nobody prayed
like the master. And any man that uses his belief
in sovereignty, election, predestination, God's will to discourage prayer
or to depart from the prayer closet is a fool. Ask and it
shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened. What things soever you desire
when you pray, believe, and you shall have them. Men ought always
to pray and not to think. I will that men pray, he said.
Paul said, pray without ceasing. Live in an attitude of prayer.
Ask God to say, let's pray. All right, second, let's turn
to Luke 5. Here's another area that I think will be helpful
to us, where the word nevertheless is used. Now I want you to remember
this, Luke chapter 5. I believe in God's absolute sovereignty. You do. You know it's so. But
we're not robots. We're not puppets on a string.
We have thoughts, we have minds, we have plans, we have initiative.
But when all is said and done, it is God's Word that is our
rule, not our own wisdom, not our own thoughts. Now I need
to learn this as a pastor, you need to learn it also. That we're
seeking the will of God in the Word of God. We're seeking the
way of God in the Word of God. We're seeking the truth of God
in the Word of God. I've got some thoughts. You have
too. Like I said, God doesn't discourage
our searching and studying and the Bereans searched the scriptures
to see if these things were so. No matter how little we understand
of it, no matter how contrary to human wisdom and human ways
it appears, the word is our command and our rule. I'll show you this
example here in Luke 5. It came to pass that as the people
pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the
lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two ships standing by the lake,
but the fishermen who had gone out of them were washing their
nets. Now these were the disciples' boats. They'd been out there
fishing. Now, stay with me. They'd been
out there fishing all night. And they'd come in. I expect
old Peter was in a pretty bad mood. He hadn't caught anything.
And he was over there cleaning his nets. Nothing like cleaning
your nets when you've emptied them of fish, but there's nothing
like cleaning your nets when you haven't had a bite. And he
was over there, he was unshaven and weary and sleepy and tired
and cleaning his nets, and the master, Look at verse three,
and he entered into one of the ships, which was Peter's, Simon
Peter's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little
from the land. In other words, come over here, Peter. Leave
your nets, come over here now, and push this boat out. And he
pushed the boat out a little bit, and he sat down and talked
to people. Now, when he had finished speaking, he turned to Simon.
You see the picture? He turned to Simon, and he said,
he said, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for
a draft of fish, for a good catch. You get the picture? And Simon
said, Master, we're toiled all night. We fished
all night. We've been here all night. You
just got here. We've been here all night. We've
toiled all night. In other words, he's implying
there's nothing out there. We toiled all night and caught
nothing. That's human wisdom. That's human understanding. Now,
that ought to be enough for the master to turn to him and say,
well, just shove on into the show and let's go home. That
ought to be sufficient. We all ought to go by that. That
Peter, watch it. Today, you appoint deacons because
they're expert businessmen. That ought to make them a good
deacon. They're successful businessmen. A man successful financially
ought to be a good deacon. Or a man who's a famous ball
player, he ought to be a good deacon. You know, he succeeded.
This got all these different reasons. And Peter was an expert
fisherman. And he told the Lord he was. He said, I've done this
all my life. And I know what I'm talking about.
Now this way you ought to do this, Jay, because I've done
this all my life. And you should listen to me.
I've often, when men sat in my study and told me how I ought
to preach and how I ought to conduct the church, I've often
thought, I'd love to take your business for a week and you take
mine and see which one went bankrupt first. They both would. But Peter said, the master said,
cast your net out here. And Peter said, I fished Charlie
here all night and caught nothing. Caught nothing. But Peter added
something that every one of us need to add. Nevertheless, at
your words, I'll let down the net. I'm not going to do what
I think ought to be done. I'm not going to do what somebody
else thinks ought to be done. I'm not going to employ human
wisdom and human thoughts. I'm going to find out what you
say in your word and that's what I'm going to do. You see what
I'm saying? It's a whole different ball game
when you do that. Human wisdom is foolishness in
God's eyes. This has become a difficult area
for some men. It's so difficult. It's so difficult
to submit to the Word. It's so difficult, especially
when the Word so conflicts with the way we do it. It's so difficult,
Cecil, because the Word conflicts with the way we think. God says,
my thoughts aren't your thoughts. In other words, here's the Word.
Would you be full? Would you be full? The Word of
God says, become empty. Now that's not sensible. No,
it's not. But it's God's Word. It's spiritual.
That's not sensible. Would you be full? Then become
empty. Would you, listen, would you
be rich? Give everything away. Now, that's not the way to be
rich. I know it's not. That's not the way, not at all.
Would you receive? Give. That's not the way to receive.
The way to receive is go get it. No, the way to receive is
give it. That's what the word says. Listen, would you be wise? become a fool. That's what this
book says. That's, you know, Peter says,
Lord, now wait a minute. He said, you cast out there and
drop that net over. I've fished here all night. I
hadn't caught anything. And my worldly wisdom, my fisherman's
intuition is to go home and get some naps, so I can come back
in when the moon's right, or when the tables are right, or
when they say down at the newspaper office it's good fishing, but
Peter didn't say that. He said, I've toiled all night.
He's a little edgy there. But, however, in spite of that,
you tell me to do it, I'll do it. You tell me to do it, I'll
do it. Would you live? Die. Would you save your life? Lose
it. I don't understand that. I don't understand that, and
there's no way that a psychiatrist can understand it, a philosopher
can understand it, an educator can understand it, a businessman
can understand it, or you can understand it apart from one
thing. It's the revelation of God's
Word. And that's all I got to go by. But if I give that up,
I'm going to give it all up. And that's just so, nevertheless.
Let's have the objections. Go ahead. Let's have the thoughts.
Go ahead. But let's put on the end of every
expression of our own, however, at thy word. See what I'm saying? At thy word. Better look into
it. This word, God said, will judge
you. My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts.
Turn to 2 Timothy 1. Second Timothy 1. I want all
the preachers here to listen carefully now, and everybody
else too, but I especially thought the preachers when I got into
this. Second Timothy 1. Now, you know, my friends, the
Pharisees and Sadducees and the scribes and the lawyers of Paul's
day were all decked out in their fine linen. They had the best
clothes. They had the white linen with the blue borders. They had
the funny looking hats, you know, and they had all the, they had
the good jobs. They had the good churches. They
had the tabernacles and temples and synagogues. They had the
uppermost seats. They had the degrees. They had
the credentials. They had the fans. They had the
people. They had an easy life. They had the parsonages. They
had the guaranteed salary. They had the fringe benefits.
They had everything. People called them master, rabbi. People called
them reverend and doctor. People called him father and
all these things. And here sat Paul in a prison,
alone, in a prison. Here this man who had the message,
they had everything else, he had the message. You don't think
this will get to you sometime, we'll warn you. He had the message
and he flat well knew it. He knew they didn't. He knew
they weren't saying anything. They were like creaking barn
doors or sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. He knew it. And he had
the message. But here he sat, watching the
rats crawl around in the dungeon. Here he sat, waiting, depending
on some reprobate to furnish him his food and drink. Here
he sat with a limited audience, just some folks who'd come and
listen to him maybe through the window or through the door. Here
he sat waiting death, spit upon, ridiculed, persecuted, hated,
lied about. You're crazy, they'd say. You're
a fool. Now, if that won't get to a fella, in verse 9, he said,
he's talking to Timothy. Here in verse, rather in verse
8, he said, don't be ashamed of me. Don't be ashamed of me,
Timothy. Be not ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of me. Don't
be ashamed of me. Be a partaker of the affliction
of the gospel according to the power of God. Look at verse 12.
And he says, verse 11, I'm appointed a preacher. I'm a preacher. I
am too a preacher. He said, I'm an apostle. I'm
a teacher of the Gentiles. And for this very reason, I suffer
these things. I suffer. He suffered as no other
man outside of Christ ever suffered. Nevertheless, there's that word
again. However, in spite of all that, I'm not ashamed. I'm not
ashamed. You see what I'm saying? I'm
not ashamed. I know whom I have believed.
I'm not ashamed. And sometimes when we become
embarrassed or discouraged or somebody says, why don't you
have a church? Why don't you have a degree? Why don't you
have a following? Why don't you have a this, that,
and the other? Paul said, I know how to abound
and I know how to be a base. He said, I've learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. I'm not ashamed. I know whom
I have believed. I know who the Redeemer is. I
know it's not the church. I know it's not Mary. I know
it's not baptism or the altar. I know it's Christ. I know whom
I have believed. And I am persuaded, whatever
the signs and evidences look like, whatever you think, I'm
persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. As a ruined sinner, I've come to Christ. As a guilty
sinner, I've come to Christ. As a needy sinner, I've come
to Christ. And I found in Him all I need. I don't need the
acclaim of the world. I don't need the applause of
men. I don't need the support of the flesh. David said, when
my mother and father forsake me, the Lord will take me up.
I know whom I have believed. I think God's preachers ought
to be tender, compassionate, and affectionate. But I think
they ought to be bold, independent men. Paul said, I used to know
Christ after the flesh, but I know no man after the flesh. And whatever
my conditions, and whatever my environment, whatever it costs
me, whatever persecution, I know whom I have believed. I'm not
ashamed. I was so glad the other night, Thursday night, up there
in up there in Trace Fork, West Virginia. It's 65 or no, it's
165 miles round trip up there. I forget how far it is one way,
but we go up Charleston and up 77 and then out 21 and then up
Gooseneck Holler or something like that, you know, where the
ruts are and all. Get on to a little church over
on the right, a little building, that is. And I got there early
and stopped, and the pastor came up, a blessed young fellow, custodian
in a school. He said, I've never been ordained.
He said, I've just been a pastor here since January. And he said,
everybody's asking me how in the world I got you to come up
this holler and preach. And he said, I just wrote and
asked him. He said he'd come. I said, man, I'd rather be here
than anywhere I know. These are my folks, you know. I like to
preach to sinners. I like to preach to plain, ordinary
folks. I said, by the way, how many of you preach to on Sunday?
He said, about five or six. I said, well, there's just a
few of us there talking. I said, you got a song leader?
He said, nope. I said, well, Brother Jay will lead the singing.
I said, you got a piano player? He said, nope. They had a piano. I said, well, my wife will play
the piano. You got any books? He said, yeah, we got song books.
So brethren, they start coming. And there's about 60 people fill
that little auditorium, that first. first night, Tuesday and
then Wednesday. So Thursday night I was sitting
down there waiting to preach and he got up to say his little
piece and I was so thrilled. He stood there in front of those
people and he said, you know, in his country vernacular, he
said, you know, there's a whole lot of people in this world that
say that Jesus Christ died on the cross for every son of Adam.
that he paid the debt of every son of Adam, of every person.
He said, I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. He said, Christ
died for those that believe on him. Said he didn't fail. He
got the job done. That boy, I sat there just thrilled
to death, you know, I thought. He mucked the holler. God has
his sheep. He mucked the holler. Here's a boy that's not ashamed
to stand in front of his community and his friends and declare that
I'm not ashamed. That's what Paul said. I bet
you it cost him. Well, I didn't let him stand
alone. I got up there and preached on death and atonement. When
he got through, I just picked it up and went on, you know.
I said, that man said what one preacher out of a thousand has
the courage to say, and I'm going to back him up, because he's
telling you all the truth. But Paul said that sitting in
his little cell, surrounded by all the inconveniences, deserted
by men, he said, only Luke is with me. At my first trial, no
man stood with me. It wasn't popular to stand with
Paul. But he said, I'm not ashamed. I am not ashamed. I know whom
I have believed. All right, turn to 2 Timothy
2. 2 Timothy 2. Brother Bill Parker
did a good job on this last night, Saturday night service. I'm not
going to stay on it long. But in 2 Timothy 2, back here
in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy, verse Verse 15, Paul talks about Phagellus
and Homogenes deserting him, going into apostasy. And then
down here in verse 18 of 2 Timothy 2, he talks about, verse 17,
he talks about Hymenaeus and Philetus, who actually denied
the resurrection. They said the resurrection's
already passed. False doctrine. Then he talks about Demas forsaking
me and loving the present world. And all of these things trouble
Paul. They can't help but trouble you. I preach here, I've been
here for a long time, and sometimes people come and go. People come
and profess to love the gospel, love what we preach, and love
Christ, and some depart from the way, some deny the truth,
some go into Armenian churches, and some do different things.
Paul experienced that. It's distressing. We'd like to
conserve everyone. We'd like to protect everyone.
We'd like to keep everyone that comes our way. You would, I would.
We can't be. But verse 19 says this, but nevertheless,
however, in spite of it, Hymenaeus can depart. Phygellus can depart. Homogenes can depart. Alexander
the coppersmith can depart. Demas can depart. The Lord knoweth
them that are his." Huh? God's got a people. Religion
abounds and error on every side. However, in spite of that, the
Lord has a people. And he'll call them and they'll
come. And they'll not depart from him. All right, now turn
if you will to Philippians 1. I'm going to move along. Philippians
1. I love this nevertheless. I just knew you'd be blessed
by it because it blessed me so much. In the matter of prayer,
in this matter of being distressed, in false prophets and false teachers,
in the matter of the ministry and the place God has me. But
watch this, all of us go through this sometime. The matter of
depression. Depression and weariness with
life. I don't, you may not, you may
be sitting there this morning in your full youth and vigor
and strength and all and think, I'll never, I'll stay here as
long as God will let me. I'm in love with life, whoopee,
you know, I want to stay here, got the bear by the tail on a
downhill pull, you know, on the shady side of life. But it just
might be that tomorrow you'll be like old Elijah and say, Lord,
why don't you just kill me? or you'll be like Job, I wish
I was dead." Huh? Yeah, he said, the day of my
death will be a heap better than the day of my birth. Yeah, he
went through that. And would you believe it, the
Apostle Paul, look at Philippians 1, verse 23, I am in a strait
betwixt two. I have a desire to die. and to be with Christ, which
is far, far better. Far better. Now, I say learn
these words now so that when you need them, they'll be there.
That's what we need to do, Charlie and Don and Corky, you men. We need to listen to these messages
now. Somebody said one time, this
Spurgeon, I just don't have dying grace. And Spurgeon said, are
you dying? He said, well, no. He said, well,
you don't need it. But now you're going to need it, and I don't
know when you'll need these words here, but you're going to need
them, so let's learn them now. Let's file them away. Let's learn them
and file them away in our hearts somewhere. I want to die, Paul
said. I have a desire to die. I want
to be with Christ. I'm weary. I'm tired. I've suffered. I bear in my body the marks of
Christ, the scars of Christ. There is upon me the care of
the churches, the weight of the minister, the responsibility
of preaching, the false friends, persecution from within the church. I'd just like to leave here,
he said. Didn't that's what he said? That's exactly what he
said. Nevertheless, however, in spite of that, read the next
verse, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. God,
they needed Paul and he knew it. They knew it, and he said,
whatever this depression, whatever it is, and whatever this weariness
with life, whatever it brings to bear, this is my desire to
depart, but however, I'm willing to stay here. I'm willing. I'm willing for your sake. Brethren,
we're not islands. We don't live alone. We don't
live apart. Somebody, God pity the man that
nobody needs. And God pity the man that needs
nobody. God have mercy. We're a family. We're such needy
creatures, not only of God's mercy and grace. In some way
we must word this thing of every man bears his own burden, but
every man bears each other's burden. There is a sense, we
have this cockiness, I don't need anybody. Now hold on, there's
a sense in which in redemption, There's a sense in which in the
forgiveness of sin and sanctification, in completeness, I don't need
anybody. You see what I'm saying? I need
only God. I need only Christ. I need only the blood. But I
tell you, in this sense of life and happiness and joy and service
and ministering, I need the whole family. Is that clear what I'm
saying? There is a sense in which, like
David said, if my mother and father forsake me, the Lord will
take me up. Jesus is all I need. In wisdom, sanctification, redemption,
light, and so forth. But I tell you this, in life,
in growth, in encouragement, in assurance, in exhortation,
I need the believers. That's difficult to describe
that, but that's so. All right, turn to Revelation
2. I want to get on this right here more. Revelation chapter
2. Revelation chapter 2. Now, this is so important. He's writing to the church at
Ephesus, Revelation 2, 1, the church at Ephesus, and he brags
on. Yes, sir, he brags on. Now, let's take this to heart. You and I, all of us. He says
to the angel of the church at Ephesus, verse 1, these things
saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who
walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlestick. I know your
works. I know your labor. I know your
patience. I know how you can't stand or bear them that are evil. You just don't like evil. You
just put it out of your midst. You don't like evil acts and
evil words and evil deeds. You're keeping a clean church. And you've tried them which say
they're apostles. You don't like impostors and
are not. You found them to be liars. And
you're born and had patience for my name's sake. You've labored.
You've got missionaries and you've got all these things and you've
given and you haven't fainted. It reminds me a whole lot of
us Reformed Baptists. We're just diligent for the truth,
you know. We're going to search out these
false prophets and false preachers and false apostles, and we're
going to keep a clean church and a disciplined church and
a structured church and a placed church and all this different
things, you know. And then he comes down to verse
4, nevertheless, in spite of it, I've got something against
you. You left your first love. What's he talking about? John
21, let's see. You left your first love. You
left your first love. You look at the scripture, and
I'll just give it to you. The disciples were gathered about
the fire, and our Lord Jesus approached the apostle Peter,
and he said, Simon, son of Jonas, Verse 15, John 21. Do you love
me more than these? Ah, he said, Lord, you know I
love you. He said, feed my sheep. He said
to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou
me? He said, Lord, you know I love you. He said, feed my sheep.
He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?
What's the first love? Do you love me? That's it. That's our first love. It's Christ. Bill sang about
it last night. I thought as Brother Mews used
to say, cut my galluses and I'd go straight up. Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, there's something about that name. Jesus, Master, Savior,
like the fragrance after the rain. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let
all heaven and earth proclaim. Kings and kingdoms will all pass
away, but there's something about that name. Brethren, in all of our efforts
to structure and discipline and place and ritual, get the right
form and ceremony and the right name and the right practices
and the right ordinances and the right this and the right
that, let's don't leave our first love. That's what he said to
this church at Ephesus. You got it all fixed up. You're
clean as a hound's tooth from wall to wall. You've got just
the right covenant. You've got just the right disciplinary
practices. You've got just the right pastors
and elders and deacons and all the committees. And you've got
just the right doctrine. And you don't like anybody that's
contrary. And you make sure you run everybody
out that's evil. But I've got something against
you. You've left your first love." And he said, verse 5, if you
don't straighten up, I'm going to come and remove your candlestick
with all of your theology and discipline and orthodoxy. Let's
go put you out of business. Put you out of business. Brethren,
let's go at it again tonight, the gospel of Christ. Let's go
at it again Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, the gospel of Christ.
That's our first love, brag on Christ. I like to see these grandmamas
reach for their billfolds and start showing pictures of their
grandbabies. That's their first love. Used to be their husbands
and then their children, now it's their grandbabies. You've
left your first love. That's right. All right, in the
seventh place and closed, in 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. In 2 Peter 3, it says, verse
12, we're looking for and hastening the coming of the day. of God
when the heavens will be on fire and they'll be dissolved and
the elements are going to melt with the fervent heat. That is discouraging to think
about, isn't it? God's going to destroy it. Oh,
wait a minute, there's that word again. Nevertheless, we, according
to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. You've got a concordance at home,
you might enjoy a word study like that, or going back over
these, or going over some more that you find. Whatever the condition,
whatever the trial, whatever the depression, whatever the
conflict, whatever the need, let's state it, let's deal with
it, let's face it, but let's always put this nevertheless.
I will be done. Nevertheless, the Lord has his
peace. And that will straighten it out, Bill. That makes everything
alright. That makes me able to get right
down here and cry and pray and plead with God. It does. And
yet say, nevertheless, I will be done. It makes me sit and
reason with that. We got a full auditorium here.
Do we need a bigger one? I don't know. Maybe so. Lord,
give us this, give us that, give us that. Nevertheless, thy will
be done. Thin it out if you will. That's your business. You just
rest in that. You don't get in a hurry. You
find peace in waiting on God. Nevertheless, thy will be done. Brother Jake, come lead us in
a closing hymn.