I'd like for you to open your
Bibles now to the book of 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel, chapter 20, verse 25. 1 Samuel 20, 25. And the king, this is King Saul,
sat upon his seat as at other times, even upon a seat by the
wall, And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and
David's place was empty." And David's place was empty. Now, it was right that David's
place should be empty on this occasion. David's seat was empty
because Saul had tried on two occasions to kill him. As he
sat in this very seat, Saul twice had thrown his spear at David,
the Scripture says, to smite him even to the wall, and David
had fled. And therefore at this particular
banquet or dinner, everyone was there, Saul, Abner, Jonathan,
the captains, the leaders, but there was an empty seat. That
was David's place because David had fled from Saul's anger. No need for David to needlessly
expose himself to danger, so he left his seat empty and he
fled. And thinking about David fleeing
from danger and fleeing from the seat that presented danger
to him, I thought there are other seats of danger everywhere which
ought to be deserted. There's one mentioned in Psalms
chapter 1. Will you turn there in your Bible?
It is called the seat of the scornful. That place ought to
be deserted, the seat of the scornful. If you're sitting there
tonight like David, it's a dangerous place, I'd rise up and flee.
It says in Psalms 1 verse 1, blessed is the man, happy is
the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Who is the scornful? He is the
man who mocks at divine things. He is the man who scorns divine
things. I don't care if it's an unbeliever.
Even if a man is an unbeliever, he would be wise to fear the
Lord. Now there are a whole lot of
folks talking about Evel Knievel tonight. This afternoon I saw
a report on Mr. Knievel on the television. He's making his farewell tour. Well, I read an article or heard
an article read in my presence that was in the newspaper quoting
Mr. Knievel. And they ask him what
he planned to do if he succeeded in this jump and what he thought
lay ahead of him if he didn't succeed. If this rocket, like
the trial rocket, plunged into the canyon bottom and killed
him, what he expected then? Well, he expected to see Jesus.
He was going to see Jesus. Well, what are you going to do
when you see Jesus? He said, well, me and Jesus are
going to play golf. He figured Jesus was a right
well-rounded fellow and he'd be willing to play golf with
him on the other side. Now he said he's mocking and
ridiculing and scoffing and making a mockery of divine things. They
said, what if Jesus doesn't want to play golf? Well, he says,
in Jesus can be my caddy and carry my clubs, the seat of the
scornful. My friends, I wish to go on record
here as plain as I possibly can state it. A man is a fool who
jokes about divine things. There's not a bigger fool on
this earth than a man who has no fear of God before his eyes. Now, you joke about whatever
you want to joke about. That's your business. But I'll
tell you, you're a fool when you joke and scorn and mock and
ridicule and make light of anything to do with God Almighty. And
with death and judgment and heaven and hell, you'll find someday
that it's no laughing matter. When you stand before Jesus Christ
the Lord at the judgment and hear him say, bind him hand and
foot and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, you won't laugh then, and you'll wish that
you hadn't laughed now. This is a seat that ought to
be deserted. A man who is sitting in the seat
of the mocker, in the seat of the scorner, he ought to get
up right now like David did. There's danger there. There's
terrible danger there. Get up now and flee from the
place of the scorner and fear the Lord. The beginning of wisdom
is the fear of the Lord. I'll tell you another dangerous
seat. Turn with me to the book of Ezekiel. Over here in the
book of Ezekiel, chapter 33, there's another seat that is
dangerous, and people who are there ought to flee. They ought
to rise up and flee. You know what that seat is? Ezekiel,
chapter 33. I want you to look at it. This
is where Judah sat. This is where the Pharisees sat.
This is the seat of presumption. The Pharisees said, while we
have Abraham, thy father, We have Moses. We have the prophets. Are not ours the canons and laws
and statutes of God and the prophets? We're Jews. We're God's people.
He says here in Ezekiel chapter 33, 31, "...and they come unto
thee as the people coming, and they sit before thee as my people."
They make a profession of religion. They profess to be my people.
And they sit before you as my people, and they hear thy words,
but they will not do them. They have no intention of doing
what you say. For with their mouth they show
much love, O how I love Jesus! Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound! Alas, and did my Savior bleed! With their lips, with their mouths,
they show much love, but their heart Where are their hearts? Their hearts goeth after covetousness,
greed, the world, and the things of this world. The seat of presumption
is the seat of deception. This is Judah's seat. This is
the Pharisee's seat. This is the hypocrite's seat.
They come and they sit as my people, and they hear your words.
And Mike, the next verse says, Lo, they enjoy your singing. Thou art unto them as a very
lovely song. You have a pleasant voice. They
love to hear the quartet sing religious music. They love to
hear the trios. They love to hear the solos.
And even, it says here, they brag on you. You can play well
on an instrument, and they hear the words of the song. But they're
not going to do them. They hear the sermon, they hear
the song, they hear the scripture, they hear the prayers, but they
have no idea at all of ever carrying out what God commands. They're
not going to do them. And when this cometh to pass,
that is judgment, when God sits upon his throne of judgment,
and it will come, then shall they know, then, not now, then
shall they know that a prophet has been among them. There was
a man sent from God whose name was John. They didn't recognize
him then, but they will at the judgment. There was a faithful
minister sent among them. There was a faithful singer sent
among them. There was a faithful evangelist
sent among them. There was a faithful missionary
sent among them. And they did not recognize, did
not hear him, did not receive him. He warned them. He cried
out. They would not believe, but at the judgment. It's going
to finally dawn on them that a prophet has been among them. The seat of presumption, it's
a dangerous place. And like David, I'd rise up and
flee. And then there's another dangerous
place, and that's found in Acts chapter 24. There's a dangerous
seat mentioned here in Acts chapter 24, beginning with verse 25.
And you know what that seat is? That's the seed of procrastination. It says here that Felix and Drusilla,
his wife, came and sat down to listen to Paul. Here was a great
leader. I don't know what his office
was. It doesn't matter. But he and his wife came. He
was a man with authority. He was a man with great power.
And he came and sat down, and Paul stood before him, and it
says in verse 25 of Acts 24, and as Paul reasoned, of righteousness, temperance,
and judgment to come. Old Felix sat there and trembled. Paul made an impression upon
him. He heard the words of this faithful servant, and he sat
there and trembled. And then he said, Paul, you go
your way for this time. I have every intention of hearing
you again. You have made an impression upon
me. I plan to give attention to these matters that you have
discussed today. I will not die in sin. I'm just
going to sit here for a little while longer." And he went on,
he said, "...and when I have a convenient season, when it
seems the right time to me and the convenient time to me, I'm
going to sin for you and I'm going to hear you again." This is the seat of procrastination. He never did sin for Paul, and
he never did hear the gospel again, and he died, and as far
as we know, he went to hell. But at that particular time,
something was going on. I don't know what you call it,
common grace, common mercy, whatever you want to call it, it doesn't
matter. But here was a human being Yes, dead in trespasses
and sin, but not dead physically, and not dead mentally, and not
dead morally. And a responsible, accountable
human being sitting before God's servant at God's time, and God's
servant faithfully preached to him Christ, and him crucified,
and the only way of salvation, God's righteousness. And Felix
heard him, and Felix trembled. And then he made his decision.
He said, I'm not going to do anything about it tonight. I'm
not going to do anything about it today. I'm going to think
it over, and when I've got just the right time and the convenient
season to make this decision, Paul, you hang around, and I'll
hear you again. That's a dangerous seat. Are
you sitting there tonight? Brother Mahan, I believe what
you preach. I believe men are lost. I believe
that sinners are under the wrath of God. I believe sinners are
under the judgment of God. I know that's so. I know that
I can't save myself. I know that Christ is the only
Savior, and I know that salvation is only through his blood and
through his merit and through his righteousness. I know that,
and I know that I need a Savior, but not now. Not now. Some of these days, one of these
days, I'm going to do something. I'm not going to die in sin.
Now, don't misunderstand. No, sir, I'm not going to die
unrepentant. I'm going to do something. You're
going to hell. That's where you're going. I've watched two or three people
drown. I saw two drown in the Philippines. Couldn't do a thing in the world
about it. I saw one almost drown, and he was rescued. And he was
off the ship there, swimming out there in bad current, and
got in trouble, and we threw him a life preserver. And you
know what he said? He said, he said, Thank you, fellas, but
I just don't believe now's the time. I think some other time
I might use this thing, and I just might catch hold of it. No, he
said, I've got a brother that may drown, and I'm going to wait
and be saved with him. When a man realizes he's lost
and God sends the only way of salvation, that man will grab
hold of it right then. And it's the fool that carries
and procrastinates. This seat ought to be deserted.
We ought to flee the danger of procrastination. I'll show you
another seat, Acts 26. Here in the 26th chapter of Acts,
verse 27, now here's a dangerous seat. King Agrippa King Agrippa
had come to hear Paul, to sit in judgment on this servant of
God, and he sat down to hear him. And verse 27, Paul had preached
to him. He said in verse 26, King Agrippa,
these things were not done in the corner. Verse 27, King Agrippa,
believest thou the prophets? I know that you believe," Paul
said. I know you believe what I'm saying. This wasn't done
in a corner. Jesus Christ's birth is known
all over the world. His death is known all over the
world. This wasn't done in a corner.
You know about the reports of Jesus Christ, his power, his
works, his resurrection. I know you believe these things.
Now listen. And King Agrippa said, almost thou persuadest me to
be a Christian. I have no objections to the law.
I have no objections to the gospel. I give wholehearted consent to
the things spoken by the prophets, and I'm moved. Yes, preacher,
I'm moved. I'm stirred by what you say,
almost to tears. And I'm almost persuaded to be
a Christian. The songwriter put it this way,
almost persuaded now to believe. Almost persuaded Christ to receive. Almost cannot avail. Almost is
but to fail. Sad, sad that bitter wail. almost but lost. Paul said, I would to God that
not only thou but also all that hear me this day were both almost
and all together such as I am. Except for these chains, he said,
and held up his hand. They had him bound by chains.
He was a prisoner. And he said, I wish, King Agrippa,
that you were not only almost, but altogether as I am, a believer
in Christ, a child of God, a blood-washed, redeemed prince of Israel. I
wish you were just like I am, except I wouldn't want you to
be in chains. If you're sitting in that seat
tonight, I'd get up and flee. Where would you flee, preacher?
I'd flee to Christ. I'd flee to the Son of God. And
then turn to Matthew 23. Quickly, there's another seat
that ought to be deserted. It says, David's place was empty,
and the reason David's seat was empty is because it was a seat
of danger. He'd almost lost his life there.
Christ was sitting in that seat, and he realized the danger, and
he realized the needlessness of sitting there and exposing
himself to the wrath of this insane king, and he got him left.
If you're sitting tonight in the seat of the scornful, I'd
get up and leave. If you're sitting tonight in
the seat of the presumptuous, there's danger there, I'd get
up and leave. If you're sitting tonight in the seat of the procrastinator,
I'd get up and flee for my life. If you're sitting tonight in
the seat of the man who's almost persuaded, but almost is not
saved, I'd get up and flee. And then here's a dangerous seat
In Matthew 23, verse 5, it says, "...all their works they do,
for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries,
and enlarge the borders of their garments. And they love the uppermost
rooms at the feast, and they love the chief seats in the synagogue. This is the seat of the proud."
God resisteth the proud, God giveth grace to the humble. What
hast thou, the scripture says, that thou didst not receive?
Who maketh thee to differ? Somebody said one time, why do
men talk so much about grace and show so little? Why do men
talk so much about mercy and show so little? Why do men talk
so much about love and show so little? because of the pride
of the human heart, how proud we are. And God hates it. Turn
to Proverbs chapter 6. They love the uppermost seats
in the synagogue. They love the seats of pride. They love the teaching and applause
of men. And God says, there are six things
I hate. There are six things I hate.
Seven are an abomination to me, and number one is a proud look.
God says, I hate it. I pray for two things constantly
before God. I pray God teach me to love.
I think the greatest gift that God can give a sinner, I mean
other than to give him Christ, is to shed abroad his love in
his heart. I know that I may speak with
a voice of men and of angels. I have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. I know I may give my strength
and my talents and my energy, yea, my body to be burned as
a martyr, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. I know
I may give my goods to feed the poor, and have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. I am nothing. And I say that
if I have not love in my heart, I have not Christ in my heart.
That's a clear indication to me I'm not saved. If I cannot
love my brother whom I have seen, how can I claim to love God Almighty
whom I have never seen? And I pray desperately and sincerely,
God, reveal Thy love to me. Shed forth Thy love in my heart.
Teach me to love. For if I never learn how to love,
it's true, I'm in the gall of bitterness, and I'm in the bond
of iniquity, and I'm a son of hypocrisy. And that's true of
you too, bud, not only me. And I pray for the second thing,
God, humble my heart. I know if I have not love, I
have not God. And number two, if I have a proud
heart, I don't know God. There's no way a man can know
Christ and have a proud heart. Let this mind be in you, which
is also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. You think you're somebody? Christ
is God Almighty. And yet he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death. He took on himself the form of
a servant. We're too proud to serve. We've
got to be served. We're too proud to give of ourselves. We've got to be the recipients.
And it's a clear indication that the Spirit of Christ and consequently
the benefits of Christ and consequently the blessings of Christ are not
ours. We are sitting in the seat of
the presumptuous. We are deceived and know not
the truth. And I pray constantly, day by
day, O Lord, humble my heart. Bring me down. If you cannot
break me here, it's sure that I'll never be broken there. If
I have not a contrite heart now, I won't have it in glory. If
I have not the love of Christ now, I won't have it in glory. So if you're in the seat of the
proud tonight, I'd get up quickly and flee. I wouldn't waste any
time. The javelin of God's wrath may
be on its way. The instrument of death is already
prepared. The spear of God Almighty's justice
and judgment may be right now on course toward your heart.
I'd flee. I'd flee. If I was sitting in
the seat of the proud, I don't think I am. If I am God, reveal
it, but I want to fall on my face in the dust at the feet
of Christ and kiss his feet, and in the process kiss the feet
of his people." Paul said, I'm less than the least of all the
saints. Pick out the least saint in the
family of God. Pick out the lowest member in
the kingdom of God. And Paul is less than that person. He said, I am what I am by the
grace of God. Whatever I have and whatever
God enables me to do, it's not I but Christ that liveth in me. Now, these are dangerous seats. But I want to use David's empty
seat for another purpose of edification tonight. Secondly, The second thing, it says here,
David's place was empty. I look over this congregation
and there are seats that are empty. Empty. Saul sat there in his place and
he looked all around and his eye kept coming back to that
empty place. David's place was empty. And
Saul's eye kept coming. Finally, he asked about it. He
asked his son. He said, David wasn't in his
seat yesterday, and David wasn't there today. Where's David, and
why isn't David here? And Jonathan told him. But as
I look over this congregation, I can see some seats that are
empty. And the first reason some of
them are empty is death. Death. I look over here and I
see my son's seat, where he always sat, is empty. I see my mother's
seat is empty. I see Mr. Barber's seat is empty.
I see J. B. Moore's seat is empty. I see
John Moore and his wife's seat is empty. Go back over the years,
I see Wilson Simon and his wife's seat. I know where they all sat.
and they're empty. Those seats have been emptied
by death. And as I look over this congregation,
I see the empty seats of my friends and fellow worshipers that used
to sit here with me and call upon the Lord, and they're not
there now. Their seats have been emptied by death. They were here
just a little while ago, but they're gone now. And as I consider
that empty seat, emptied by death, it occurs to me that one of these
days that seat's going to be empty. It won't be long. I've been in Ashland now for
twenty-seven years. When I've been here twenty-seven
more years, I'll be seventy-five years old, and I'm sure by that
time that seat will be empty. But the scripture teaches me
that. It says, Be ye also ready. God has taken a loved one, be
ye also ready. God has taken your fellow worshipper,
be you also ready. God has taken your faithful friend,
be you also ready. For at an hour when you think
not, God's going to take you. I wonder who will lie up here
next. Do you know? Well, no preacher,
do you? No, I don't know. It could be
you, Charlie. Good possibility. I don't know. It could be me. It could be my
wife. So I say to them, knowing that
there's a possibility that your seat may be empty next Sunday,
don't you think you ought to give diligence to make your calling
and election sure? Don't you think it would be wise
for you to examine yourself, whether you be in the faith?
David said, Oh God, teach me to number my days, that I may
apply my heart to wisdom. Don't you think that knowing
that your place may be empty next Sunday, that you ought to
use that place well tonight? What have you been doing while
we've been singing, and praying, and reading God's Word, and while
I've been preaching? Well, preacher, I tell you, I've
built a house, and I've dug some ditches, and I've planned my
day tomorrow. You may not have a day tomorrow.
You better plan your eternity is what you better be doing. I'll tell you, preacher, I'll
just be honest with you. I just haven't heard a word you
said. I know a lot of people. I know we preach to folk, and
I know a lot of times they don't hear a word we say. I don't have
any trouble getting people's attention because I'm so loud,
but getting their interest is something the Holy Ghost has
to do. I can't do it. But I'll tell you this. If I
thought that sea was going to be empty next Sunday, this would
be a busy Sunday. And I mean it'd be busy studying
the Word, praising the Lord, and seeking His face. We ought
to live every day as if it were the last day on this earth. We
ought to live and conduct ourselves in the light of judgment. David's
place was empty. He was there the day before,
but the day's gone. And these beloved friends of
ours, they were here just a short time ago, and now they're gone.
And it won't be long till, James, your seat will be empty, and
Cecil, your seat will be empty. So we ought to use these places
of worship well while they're here, while they're ours, and
call upon God. I'll tell you something else
we ought to do. If you thought that beloved wife
of yours wouldn't be in that seat next Sunday, don't you imagine
you would be a little kinder to her this week? Don't you imagine if that friend
sitting across the aisle from you next time you saw his face
would be down at the funeral home looking down into a casket
that you wouldn't hold that grudge you're holding? Or keep those
hard feelings that you have? Don't you imagine that you'd
do all within your power to love well those that are with you?
For the day will dawn when they'll be beyond your love. and beyond
your apology and beyond your I'm sorry. And then I'll tell
you something else. I think we ought to pay attention
to the older folks. There's a day when their seat
will be empty and somebody's going to say, I wish I'd have
spoken to them. I wish I'd have said something
cheerful. I wish I'd have said something
comforting. But I just let the time slip
by and didn't take advantage of it. There are seats in this
congregation that have suddenly, without warning, been emptied
by death. And brethren, as sure as there's
a God in heaven, and as sure as it's appointed unto men once
to die, there's some more seats out here that are going to be
emptied before too long. I'd use them well. And here's
another thing. Another reader, seats emptied
tonight by sickness. Sometimes David's seat is empty
because of sickness. You know the Lord's people get
sick too. We're not immune. We're immune from judgment. There's
no judgment to them who are in Christ. We're immune from condemnation. Who can condemn us? We're immune
from Satan's captivity. But we're not immune from germs,
and we're not immune from diseases, and we're not immune from the
plagues of this old world. But if my seat's emptied next
Sunday because of sickness, I want to be able to say, I know that
the divine providence of God, which emptied my place, is so
wise and so good that though I cannot understand the object
and purpose of the Lord, I am sure that it will all work out
for my good and His glory." Can you do that? Charles Spurgeon
was visiting a hospital one time, walking down between the rows
of bed. There were a lot of children
there. He came upon a little boy. This is a true story. He
came upon a little boy about eleven or twelve years of age.
This little boy had polio, paralysis. His little arms were just tiny,
and his little legs were tiny. He hadn't walked in years. He
was very pitiful, just a cripple, lying there on the bed. Couldn't
walk, couldn't run, couldn't play, couldn't stand. And Spurgeon
stood there by his bed, and as he was standing there, he looked
out the window, and there out in the yard were some children
who were patients in the hospital, but who could go out and play.
And he looked at this little boy, and then he looked out there
at those children, and he said, ìSon, do you believe in God?î
The little boy said, ìYes, I sure do.î He said, ìWell, son, tell
me this. Why is it that those children
out there can run and play, and you canít? Those children out
there have full use of their limbs, and you donít have the
use of yours at all. If you believe in God, tell me
why that is." And the little boy looked up at him, and Spurgeon
said, This is a fact. With a tear in his eyes, he said,
Mr. Spurgeon, even so, Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight. Now brethren, I can't explain
the providence of the Lord. I can't explain sickness. I can't
explain infirmities. I can't explain heartaches. I
can't explain the valley of sorrow through which some of you have
to go. I cannot explain those things. I cannot explain a crippled
body. I'm not going to attempt to,
except to say with that little boy what our Lord Jesus said,
even so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight. That's all I know
to say. We have to bow to the providence
of God. When David, or rather when Joseph,
was cast into the pit by his jealous brothers, I'm sure he
didn't know why. And finally, when he served faithfully
in Potiphar's house and was cast into prison, I'm sure he didn't
know why. And you could go through the
lives of God's people, and they find them, say, John the Baptist,
thirty-three years old, down there in prison, and then brought
up, and his head cut off and brought in on a charger like
a pig's head on a plate before the king. And you look at that
and say, is there a God in heaven? This man is God's child? And
this man is a prince of glory? And this man is one of God's
chosen? And that one on the cross was
too. Somebody bitterly said, whose son was killed in the war,
the pastor came by to see him. His son had been killed on the
battlefield, and the pastor came by to call on him, and the man
was very bitter. And he said to the preacher,
where was God when my boy died? And the preacher said to the
man, very wisely, the same place he was when his boy died, on
the throne. And I don't care what happens
to me or what happens to you. I just hope I can bear the witness
of a true child of God. I don't care what comes our way,
how deep the valley, how dark the way, how impossible it seems. I know God's on the throne. And
I know he's too wise to make a mistake, and he's too good
to do wrong. That's what you prayed this morning.
I believe that. But brethren, I don't want to believe it up
here only. I want to believe it down here. And I don't want to just
say it with my lips. When these trials come, I want
to witness a good confession. I want to face people and let
them know that I don't only believe God's sovereign in my head, but
I believe it in my heart. And I can say with Job, when
the whirlwind has swept away all that I have, I can say, The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. Will you do that with me? Will
you do that with me? These sermons like this that
I preach, you may not see a need for them right now, but it may
be next week you will. And God is giving you these blessed,
faithful truths of his word now, so that you might have them in
your storehouse of memory and in your heart when you have to
reach out and take hold of it." He said, "'Preacher, I don't
believe I can have dying grace.' Are you dying? Well, no. Well,
you'll get it when you need it. You'll get it when you need it.'"
Then the third thing, and I close, "'There are seats,' and this
makes me very sad, They're seats that are emptied by indifference.
I can't complain too much about that here at 13th Street, for
most of our people are very diligent in their attendance on the worship
of God. But sometimes I get up here,
and that's one of the disadvantages of you folks sitting in the same
place every Sunday. I know who's missing. I can sit
right up here about two and a half minutes, and Henry, you know
it, so I can tell you who's here and who's not here. And I get
pretty sad sometimes when I see empty seats, and I wonder what
frivolous excuse kept the owner from the worship of God. I wonder
what little silly, frivolous, empty excuse kept that person
at home. David's seat is empty. I take
that back. David's seat's not, because David
said, I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the house
of the Lord. That's not David's seat that's empty. That's Demas'
seat that's empty. He loved the world. Is that too
hard? David's seat wouldn't be empty
for that reason. David said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. You
wouldn't see his seat empty when somebody's praising the Lord.
But Demas, the Scripture says, Demas hath left us. Why did Demas
leave us? He loved the world. That's why
Demas left us. I'm going to give you one illustration,
and I'll close this message. John chapter 20. In the 20th
chapter of John, you say, well, why should I attend
the house of God ever service? Well, I'll tell you one good
reason, is that when you missed, the Lord might have been there.
The Lord might have been there. And He might have revealed something
to His people, and you're not being there. You missed it. That's
what happened to Thomas. Look at John 20. It says here
in John 20, verse 24, But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,
was not with them when Jesus came. There's all there but Thomas,
but he wasn't there. I don't know where he was. He
might have been gone fishing somewhere, but he wasn't there. And the
Lord appeared to them after the resurrection, and Thomas wasn't
there. And you know what happened? Read on. The other disciples
therefore said to him, Thomas, we've seen the Lord. But he said,
except I shall see in his hand the print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe." Thomas, if you'd have been there
when the Lord taught them that lesson, you wouldn't have been
filled with doubts. If you'd have been there, Thomas, when
the Lord appeared to his disciples and breathed on them and spoke
to them and comforted them, you wouldn't have had those doubts.
And to save my life, I hear people always filled with doubts and
fears, and then I come to the house of God, and they're not
there. And you prepare a message to preach on the sufficiency
of Christ, and the effectual work of Christ, and the assurance
we can have in Christ, and you get up to preach it, the seat's
empty. Thomas is not there. And you go and say, well, I have
assurance, and I don't. I don't. We've seen the Lord,
Thomas. I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. David's seat was empty. Empty. Our Father, let us flee
the seats of danger. Never sit in the seat of the
scornful anymore, or the presumptuous, or the procrastinator, or the
proud. And O Lord, let us be ready when
David's seat shall be emptied by death, or when David's seat is emptied
by sickness. Let us praise Thee for Thy providence,
and bow to Thy hand. Thy hand is never heavy. Thy
yoke is not heavy. We know that thou hast a purpose
in all things, and we bow to that purpose. But, O Lord, give
us the strength and the faith and the hunger and the thirst
that never allows this seat up here to be empty through indifference,
or these seats out here through immaturity and childishness and
indifference. Let us be courageous sons of
the living God who never quit the battle, who never lay down
our weapons and flee the enemy. Give us grace to stand every
trial, and having done all, to stand. For Christ's sake we pray,
Amen.