I've had this text on my mind
for almost a week. I read it last Sunday or Monday
and it impressed me. I wrote it down on the desk calendar in my study
and thought about it all week and asked God to give me a message.
from this text. These all died in faith. These all died in faith. And I think one reason why this
text has been on my mind so vividly all week is because it's one
of those texts from God's Word which is so brief, so short,
and yet so rich and full of meaning, like the Lord is my shepherd.
How long could you dwell on that? How long could you preach from
that text? What could you say, you know? The Lord is my shepherd.
And then, I know that my Redeemer liveth. There's another. Just
spend the whole week feasting on that. I know that my Redeemer
liveth. And then, our Lord, someone said
the shortest sermon Christ ever preached, one of the most meaningful
sermons, was only three words. Remember Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. And this
text here is so short, so rich, so full of meaning, these all
died in faith. Now think what that's saying.
It's saying that their salvation was certain. They died in faith.
Their salvation was sure and certain. It is saying that they
knew the living God. That's the only way a man can
know God is by faith. The only way a man can come into
the presence of God is by faith. They knew the living God. These
men knew God. Paul said, Oh, that I may know
Him. Christ said, This is eternal life to know God. The Pharisees
professed to know Him, and Christ said, You neither know me nor
my Father. But these men knew Him. Think what that said. They
died in faith. They knew God. And then their
deaths were blessed and peaceful. Let
me die. said one, the death of the righteous,
and let my latter end be like his." This is the way I want
to die, in faith. I'm going to die. I want to die
in faith. And that's the reason this text
has been on my mind all week. It's so short, but it's so rich. It's so full of meaning. These
men died peacefully. They died a blessed way. in faith. How horrible it is for a man
to die in his sins, and then their resurrection was sure.
They weren't going to stay dead. They were going to be raised.
That's certain, because they died in faith. Christ said, He
that believeth on me shall never die. He shall live because I
live, and that's certain. And then their glory, their eternal
glory was secure. Christ said, I go to prepare
a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place, I'll come
back and get you, that where I am, there you may be also.
So my, my, these all died in faith. Five words, but a year's
preaching material. And then I think the second reason
why this text has been on my heart is because, and let me
word this carefully, this is the most important, the most
important, and might I add, the all-important concern, or should
be, of my soul. I want saving faith, living faith,
dying faith. I believe if God asked me this
morning, what gift, above all gifts, would you desire? I think, I'd have to give this
some thought now, but I believe that I would reply, give me faith. Give me faith. All the other
graces spring from that grace, I believe. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I want living faith, not
dead faith. I want saving faith, not religious
faith. I want dying faith. I want, like
Abel, to offer a more excellent sacrifice. I want to come to
God, not by my works, but by the blood of the Lamb of God.
Don't you? That's how Abel came, and God
had respect to his offering. By faith, Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice. And God had respect to his offering.
I want that faith that comes through the blood by the Lamb
of God. I want that faith that Enoch
had, who walked with God. Enoch walked with God. He was
a public man, he was a family man, and yet he walked with God. And he walked right on into heaven,
because he walked with God. A man who walks with God will
one day walk in heaven. And he walked with God by faith,
not by sight, by faith. And I want, like Noah, to be
delivered from God's wrath. The wrath of the flood is a picture
of God's wrath against sin and judgment of this world in the
latter day. No, he won't destroy the world
by water, but he will by fire. And I want, like Noah, by God's
grace to be lifted above the flood, don't you? To be delivered
from the wrath of God. I want like Abraham just to believe
God. That's what it says about Abraham.
He believed God. He believed God. It doesn't say
anything about his ritualism or ceremonialism or legalism
or any other kind of ism. He just believed God. He went
about his business believing God. He rested upon his bed believing
God. Abraham believed God. If I do
not have this faith in the Lord Jesus, whatever I have, it won't
amount to anything, it means nothing. Look at John 8. I want
you to read a verse of scripture. I read a verse in a message,
God blesses his word. Now, I've been preaching long
enough to know this, that God blesses his word. And what I
say is sandwiched around a text or a passage of Scripture, but
the Scripture is what I want you to remember. I read a passage
not long ago, and I was with a man recently, and I saw he
had it marked in his Bible, and he had memorized it, and it was
a blessing to him. You are they which justify yourselves
before men. But God looketh on the heart,
and that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. That verse stuck with that man.
It stuck with me. I don't know what I preached
that day, but I remember that verse of Scripture. And you remember
this one if you don't remember anything else I preached, John
chapter 8 verse 24. Now listen to this. I said therefore
unto you, Christ our Lord speaking, that you shall die in your sins.
If you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. Isn't that something? If I don't have this faith, I'm
going to die in my sins. Nothing more horrible can happen
to me than to die in my sins. Die in my sins, condemned by
my sins, facing God's judgment and wrath,
responsible for my sins, held accountable for my sins. Now,
I don't want to weary you. Let's look back at our text.
I don't want to weary you. Nor be accused of wearing out
words or overworking a word, but each word in this text, look
at the text, Hebrews 11, 13. These all died in faith. First it says these. We're talking
about Abel, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah. These. All. See that word without exception.
There are no exceptions when it comes to acceptance with God.
No man cometh to the Father, Christ said, but by me. There's
no exception. We don't have a Baptist way to
heaven and a Catholic way to heaven and a Camelite way to
heaven and an Episcopalian way to heaven and a Presbyterian
way to heaven. There's just one way, and that's Christ. These
all, all died. All men live and all men die.
I've got to die. In faith. Faith is not a creed,
it's a condition. Faith is not a doctrine, it's
an experience. They died in faith. And then the word faith. Enoch,
think about this. These five words, these all died
in faith. Enoch lived 365 years. Now you
think about 365 years. Noah lived 965 years, according
to the scripture. Abraham lived 175 years. Put that together, that's 1500
years these three men lived. Think how many volumes of books
would be used to reveal all the deeds and the works and the words
and the adventures of these men. I've got memoirs of Newton and
memoirs of Whitefield and memoirs of Spurgeon and memoirs of fellas
in there, great big thick books where they took them from their
birth, their childhood, their youth, their manhood, and then
their death and told about this. Think about this, now these men,
three of them lived, those fellas lived fifty-five, sixty years,
but these men lived, three of them, fifteen hundred years. fifteen hundred, three hundred
and sixty-five day periods. Think how many volumes would
be required to list, to write their memoirs, their adventures,
their works, and yet their lives are summed up by God in five words. They all died in
faith. They lived and they died. And about all that needs to be
remembered is this, they died in faith. That's something to
think about. Let me trust Thee evermore, every
moment on Thee call, for new life, new will, new power. Let me trust Thee, Lord, for
all. May I nothing know beside Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. These all died in faith. Now let's take these words one
at a time and let me see if God will give us something on this.
First of all, these. These. We're talking about Abel. We're talking about Enoch. We're
talking about Noah. We're talking about Abraham.
There are a lot of distinctions in this world. We have the old
and the young. We have the rich and the poor.
We have the learned and the ignorant. We have the black and the white.
We have the Jew and the Gentile. We have the successful and the
unsuccessful. We have the male and the female. We have the leader and the follower. We have the bond and the free.
We have all so many distinctions of which God takes no notice. But there is a distinction. There is a distinction. There's
one distinction. Men think little of it, but God
greatly observes it. And that's the distinction that
we're talking about in this message, F-A-I-T-H, faith. Turn to Galatians,
chapter 3. Galatians, the third chapter.
Now, as I say, all of us are lifted up with a certain amount
of pride. All of us are lifted up with
a certain amount of pride. We're glad with who we are. We're proud of what we've done.
There are distinctions. We're a little better than someone
else, a little better looking than someone else, a little taller
than someone else, a little smarter than someone else, a little richer
than someone else, a little this, that, and the other. But these
are distinctions to which God takes no notice whatsoever. Not at all. But there is a distinction
that we pay very little attention to that God observes greatly,
and that's faith. Faith in Christ. In Galatians
3, verse 28, there's neither Jew nor Greek. Now, to the Jew
there was a Jew and a Greek, and to the Greek he wouldn't
be a Jew, He'd just die before he'd be a Jew, and a Jew would
die before he'd be a Gentile. Reminds you a little bit of the
black-and-white situation, doesn't it? Sometimes the male-and-female
situation. Or the old-and-the-young situation,
or the rich-and-the-poor situation, or the educated-and-the-uneducated. We've got our distinctions, and
we just wouldn't be in it. But he says, there's no Jew or
Gentile, there's no bond or free. I'll tell you one thing, I'd
rather be dead than red. I wouldn't be a communist. I'd tell you this, I'd rather
be a believing communist than an unbelieving capitalist. I'd try. I'd rather live in Russia and
know God than to live in Kentucky and not know God. There's neither bond nor free.
That's a distinction that you make. God don't pay attention
to that. That's right. In Christ, this is what scripture
says, there's neither Jew nor Gentile. There's neither bond
nor free. That slave being beaten by his
master is a lot better off than that master. The rich man fared
sumptuously and Lazarus lay at his gate full of sowers. But
when the rich man died, he lifted up his eyes in hell, and Lazarus
was in Abraham's bosom. There's neither male nor female.
There's neither male nor female. No female's going to get into
heaven on the coattails of a male, like the Mormons teach, that
your husband's baptized by the wife. She's saved by being married
to a godly man. That's not so. There's neither
male nor female. You're all one in Christ. These. I don't care whether you're an
Abraham or an Abel or a Noah or Enoch. These. Just group them
together. The Holy Spirit groups believers
in a class by themselves. He singles them out from among
men and he says, These! These! Died in faith. Turn to Colossians chapter 3.
Colossians, the third chapter, look at verse 11, Colossians
3, 11. I wish every one of us, and I believe believers will,
I believe Christians will, let's just do away with classism. Is that a word? I'll coin one
if it's not. Let's just do away with this
spirit of envy, or pride, or arrogance, or haughtiness. I
am what I am by the grace of God. I have what I have by the
grace of God. I do what I do by the grace of
God. I walk by the grace of God. I speak and hear and see by the
grace of God. Don't make fun or ridicule anybody
of lesser ability or more unfortunate circumstances than you, because
it's only by God's grace that you can lift your hand. It's
only by God's grace. In Christ, chapter 3 of Colossians,
verse 11, there's neither Greek nor Jew, there's neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision, there's neither barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free. But I'll tell you who's important
in this relationship, and that's Christ is all. He's all. He's the King. We're the servants. We're the bond slave. Grace is
a leveler. I've heard people say the grave
is a leveler. No, grace is. I know the grade
is. The rich man, the poor man, the
black man, the white man, the old man, the young man. Once
they're in the grade, they're all the same. They're just bones
and skin. But I say before believers reach
the grade, grace is a leveler. Grace brings down the high places
and raises up the low places. It makes the important man to
be brought down in his esteem, and the unimportant man, it exalts
him and brings him up. And the rough places it makes
smooth, and God's grace does that with brethren in Christ. That's what we are, and delighted
to be so. But these, these, he said, look
at our text again, these, these, nobody named special. He didn't
say, now, Abraham, died in faith. It said these died in faith.
These, they all believed as one God who created all things by
the word of His power and revealed in the sacred trinity of His
holy person, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These all believed
that. These believed that sin has come into this world and
separated us from God for all have sinned and mainly I have
sinned and all in need of mercy. I need mercy as much as the greatest
criminal that ever lived, as much mercy, and the infinite,
immutable mercy of God. And these all believe that God
is plenteous in mercy. They found him to be so, that
God has by his grace purposed to save sinners, and has by his
grace given his Son to redeem sinners. These all These believe and receive that
mercy, not by works, but by faith. Turn to 1 Peter. Let me show
you a verse over here, chapter 2. These. I like that term. These. Just named four of the
greatest men who ever lived, and it sums them up this way.
These. These. Just named one of the oldest
men who ever lived, and one of the most godly men who ever lived,
Enoch. And one of the most popular men who ever lived, Abraham,
just says these. That's the way God sums us up. These sinners, these sons of
Adam, these rebels, these, you know, these. In 1 Peter 2, but
these, verse 9, are a chosen generation. God elected them
out from among men. They're a chosen generation.
These are. They're royal priesthood. The
word royal is king, a kingly priesthood. They're both kings
and priests under God. They're priests to offer suitable
sacrifices and kings to reign with Christ. And they're a holy
nation, imputed holiness in Christ, imparted holiness by the Spirit. They're different people. They're
new creatures. And they're not all that, but they're peculiar
people. They're different. They're different from the world.
And they become more different all the time. And the difference
is more obvious all the time as they grow in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ. They're different. They're different. All right, let's move on. The
second word in our text, these all died in faith. Whether it be Moses or Matthew,
whether it be Joshua or John, whether it be Abraham or Apollos,
these all came to God by faith. There's no other door. There's
no other way. Christ said, I am the door, by
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. There's none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
It doesn't matter if you're an Abraham or if you're an Apollos,
you come by Christ. It doesn't matter if you're Moses
or if you're Matthew. You come to God by faith in Christ. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. Without the shedding
of blood there is no remission of sin. These Old Testament saints
were saved, redeemed, forgiven, justified the same way you are,
the same way I am, by faith. They looked for Christ to come
and we look to the Christ who has come. They look to the blood
that was to be shed, we look to the blood that has been shed.
They look to the mercy of God in Christ, the sacrifice. We look to the mercy of God in
Christ, the sacrifice. Jude talked about a common salvation. What did he mean by that? Ours
is a common fall in Adam, all dying. We have that in common. Every believer has that. We all
fell in Adam. Ours is a common disease. all
we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his
own way. You got the same thing I got." You know, people, they
get a little bit of, I think, joy out of that, to run into
somebody that's had the same thing they had. It kind of, it gives them something
to talk about. It gives them something to, some
common ground to to communicate on. In other words, somebody's
had appendicitis and you say, well, I had that. How'd you get
along? Well, they want you to tell them
how you got along so they can tell you how they got along,
you know. You had your gallbladder out? Well, I had mine out last
year, you know. And that's common ground. And
all believers have this in common. They all have a common fall.
They all have a common disease. That is sin. They all have common
faith, Christ. They all have a common priest
as one God and one mediator between us and God, Christ Jesus. They
all have a common hope. When he shall appear, we shall
be like him. They all have a common goal that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection. We ought
to have a lot to talk about. And if we are believers, we do
have a lot to talk about. And eternity won't be enough
time to talk about it then. These all, all of them. It troubles me that what we call
Christianity today, and I think that may be the answer right
there, just what we call Christianity, is so divided, and there's so
much schisms and divisions and hard feelings and misunderstandings. I think the answer is right there. It's what we call Christianity.
It's not Christianity at all, because believers love one another. They love one another. The next
word, these all died. Now I want you to listen to this.
They had faith, but they died. They had faith, but they died.
Saul died, David died, Judas died, John died. Only two men
have ever lived on this earth and not died. God took them to
glory, Elijah and Enoch, but all men have died. Faith will
not keep a man from dying. We don't expect God to heal every
disease. I hear these these healers on
the television and radio saying, now if you have faith, God will
heal you. Not necessarily. Didn't heal
these folks. They died. If God healed every
disease, no believer would ever die. But this is not the case. Men die. It's appointed unto
men once to die. Disease and Sickness and these
things are part of this earth, this world, this flesh, a part
of the condemnation and judgment upon Adam's race because of his
rebellion and sin. These men died. But watch this
though, they all died in peace. They all died in hope. They all
died in confidence of glory. They all died, but they all died,
these next two words are important, in faith. Now get this, they
had this faith before they died. They had this faith before they
died. I don't know a great deal about deathbed experiences, but
I Someone said this, this may help. There's only one example of deathbed repentance
in the Bible, only one, that's the thief on the cross, only
one, that no one may presume. There is one, at least one, that
no one may despair. And I think that's a pretty good
place to leave it. There is one. There is an example of a man
who, just a few hours before he died, embraced the promises
of God. So I would say to any sinner,
look to Christ. Look to Christ and be saved.
It doesn't matter whether he's a very young person or a very
old person. Whether he has a few years to
live or a few hours to live, look to Christ. There is an example
of a man who did, in his dying hour, look to Christ and was
saved. But there's only one that no
one may presume. These people had that faith while
they lived. They had that faith. And then
secondly, they persevered in that faith. Now watch this and
be careful. They died in faith. Now I know that it's a common
thing in this day for people to get religion, lose it, live
without it, and then bank on it when they die. That's a common
thing. It's a common thing in this day
for a person to make a profession when they're fourteen years old
or thirteen or twelve and then when they become 18 or 19 decide
to kick up their heels a little bit and go out in the world and
they forget God and they roam and sow wild oats and go here
and do this and do that and pay no attention to God and live
a life without God, get married and raise a family and then as
they get older, bank on that experience they had when they
were 13 years old. Don't you believe it? These people died in faith. They
persevered in faith. They persevered in faith. And
I know this is common today, that a man 30 or 35, the evangelist
comes to town, he comes down the aisle, makes a profession,
joins a church, is baptized, and he goes a little while, and
then he gets busy, you know, and raising his family and taking
care of his place of business, and when he comes to die, they
go to look up the record. Well, he was a member of the
Calvary, or the 13th Street, or the grace that this church, yeah,
put that in the paper. He was saved. These people died
in faith. As I said, it wasn't a creed,
it was a condition. It wasn't a doctrine, it was
an experience. They died in faith. In faith. They had this faith, they persevered
in this faith. Now watch this. Noah lived 965 years. But he never got beyond faith.
He died in faith. He died in faith. Abraham lived
165 or 175 years, but he never got beyond faith. He didn't die
believing a sign, he died believing God. He never got beyond faith. He
never signs or sight, just faith. They never got beyond faith.
Someone said faith, those who go beyond faith. I hear people
who believe on Christ and then they get the second blessing.
Oh, it's much better than faith. Get the baptism of the Holy Ghost,
it's much better than faith. They get somebody's hands laid
on them, and they speak in tongues, and they get something better
than faith. These people never got beyond
faith. They never died in the charismatic movement, they died
in faith. They never died in the second blessing, they died
in faith. They never died in a higher elevated position, a
higher ground, they died in faith. Somebody said those who go beyond
faith are like the man who went so high on the ladder he went
down the other side. Faith is as high as you can go,
Cecil. Faith in Christ, love for Christ, trust in Christ,
dependence on Christ, that's high as you can go. And if you've
gone any further than that, you've gone down the other side. I've been brought up the ladder
by the Spirit of God to faith. I'm as high as I can get right
now. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light and
the burden of my heart rolled away, it was there by faith I
received my sight. And anything I see from now on,
I'll see it by faith. And I received my sight. Anything
I receive from now on, it'll be by faith. A man who goes beyond
faith is like a man who has got to the top of the ladder and
started down the other side. Faith's as high as you can go.
These people died. These. Boy, that's good company,
Abraham and Abel and Noah and Enoch. I'd like to walk with
that crowd, wouldn't you? Well, these all of them, without
exception, no special exceptions, they all died. Every one of them
died. They were human beings. They
were men, natural flesh. They died. That flesh finally
gave out. That heart finally quit beating.
Those lungs finally quit breathing. They died. But they died in faith. in faith. Look at the next verse,
and I'll quit the rest of that verse. They hadn't received the
promises, that is, they hadn't received the fulfillment of the
promises. Christ had been promised, but he hadn't come. He had been
prophesied, but he hadn't come. They believed God's Word. That's
sufficient. Preacher, show me a sign. Can't
do it, because God didn't intend to do it. No sign shall be given
but that of the Word. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word. All Abraham had was a word. All Noah had
was a word of God. That's sufficient, but the word
of God is better than the signs of men. But they saw these promises
afar off. They weren't fulfilled. Christ
hadn't come yet, but they saw them. Abraham saw my day, Christ
said. He saw my day, and he was glad. And they were persuaded of these
promises. They were convinced that they
were true. I'm trusting the Word of God.
What are you trusting? Now you think about it. Think
about that a moment. My foundation for what I believe
about the creation is the Word of God. What's your foundation
for what you believe? Well, Professor so-and-so, is
that your founder, Professor so-and-so? He's a man. A fallible,
finite, and Actually, the books written by men on medicine 200
years ago are obsolete. And the books written by men
on flying 100 years ago or 50 years ago are obsolete. And the
books written on mechanics. And none of you men who work
in the mechanic shop can take a book 50 years old and work
on a modern machine. And yet you put your trust in
the writings of men, in the words of men, when they're going to
be obsolete in another hundred years. And then you'll be in hell. You'll
be dead then. But this book, right here, it's 3,500 years
old. Some of it is writings. It's
overcome the barriers of nationality, of time, custom, tradition. It's God's work. And this is
the foundation for our faith. God said it. You see, that's
what, turn to Romans 4, and I'll let you go. Romans 4. This is
a lot better foundation than you have, where you say, I just
feel like something is so. I just feel like this is right.
Feelings are a pretty shaky foundation, friend. You may feel different
ten years from now, if God gives you that long. In fact, actually,
I'm 53 nearly, and there's been different changes of feelings
in my life. I was just a boy and then a teenager
and then a young man. The things I enjoyed and felt
like doing then, I don't enjoy or feel like doing now. When I was a child, I spake as
a child, understood as a child, and when I became a man, I put
away those things. So you must be careful about
building your theology on your feelings and building your your
hope of eternal life on your thoughts, because they're going
to change. They change with experience, and they change with knowledge,
and they change with all these things. But what we need to do
is rest on Him who changes not. Change and decay all around me
I see. O thou that changes not, abide
with me. I need to find the Word of God
and whether I'm 10 years old, you can do that at 10, 8, 7,
6. Just rest on the Word. 18, 19, 20, 21, 40, 50, 70, 80. It's unchangeable. It's the Word of God. Just stand
on it and let everything change all around you. Here's the foundation. In verse 20 of Romans 4, Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God, but he was strong in
faith. giving glory to God and being
fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able to perform. And therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. So let the world change. Let
the books and the professors and the terminology and the theology
and the sociology and the psychology and the philosophy and all these
principles and foundations, and let them shift and change nations
and families and theories and cults and sects and religions
and denominations. Let them change. Just let me
build my hope and build my house and put my confidence in this
unchanging book, the infallible, inerrant, unchanging, immutable,
verbally inspired Word of God. I don't understand everything
in this book, don't profess to, but it's the secret things belong
to God and the revealed things belong to them to whom God reveals
them. But boy, it's a far cry better
than feeling and fallible, finite means, opinions and theories. This is God's Word. Someday I'll
understand. Now, I see through a glass dimly,
but then face to face. I preach in part, I prophesy
in part, I tell you what God has revealed to me, that's all
I can tell you. I know it's so. I know it's so. It meets my need. These all died in faith, not
having received the fulfillment of the promises, but seeing them
afar off, and they embraced them. They were convinced that they
were so. And they embraced them and committed their souls to
God. Let's stand for prayer. Father, bless the message and
use it for thy glory and thy praise. Speak to our hearts through
this day. Glorify and magnify the Lord
Jesus. Forgive our sins and our ingratitude. and our doubts and fears increase
our faith for Christ's sake. Don, you come lead us in a closing
hymn. While Don's coming, let me make
two announcements. The Vacation Bible School will
begin tomorrow morning at 9.30 and will last until 12 noon each
day Monday through Friday for children age four through junior
high school. And then another sad announcement,
Brother Charlie Holbrook, who was a charter member of this
church, who is a brother to several of the ladies in this congregation,
passed away last night. He died in his sleep. He was
61 years of age. He was a dear friend of mine,
a great blessing to me. In days gone by, he attended
another congregation, but he meant a lot to me, in the past
especially. Gave me some good books and encouraged
me and defended me and defended my message when I needed a friend.
and i'm grateful for him and i do pray for the family and
i know you do i don't know any particulars or you'll find it
in the paper when i find out i'll let you know about what
the arrangements are 268 I'll burn the foundation, he
sings of the Lord. He is laid for your faith in
his excellent word. What more can he say than to
you he has said? To you for refuge did Jesus have
fled? Sing the last. The soul that
on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert
to his foes. That sorrow I'll have, should
it ever to shake I'll never, no never, no never forsake