If God Be For Us, Who Can Be Against Us? -CHARLES LAWSON BIBLE SERMON-OCT 10 2024
It's Important for Us to Remember, When We Are Experiencing Chastening from the Lord, that He Wants Only Good for Us. If We Error and Are Forgiven, He Never Brings It Up Again. Satan, However, Is Apt to Come Along With Relentless Condemnations. We Are Told, Too, of the Important Distinction Between "Ignorance in Unbelief" and "Evil Heart of Unbelief."
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00:00And verse number 31 tonight, Romans chapter number 8 and verse number 31, I think Brother Hopkins has been going through Romans, isn't that correct?
00:13And I'll tell you right now, if you want to study the Bible, get in there with him and study the book of Romans.
00:18I mean that is absolutely the foundational doctrinal book of the New Testament, is the book of Romans.
00:24In Romans chapter number 8 and verse number 31, the scripture says, what shall we then say to these things?
00:31If God be for us, who can be against us?
00:35All right, bless this word Lord, in your name I pray.
00:39Amen, go ahead and be seated.
00:41I've mentioned this to you before, but it's worthy of mentioning again.
00:46This is a question.
00:49What should we say to these things?
00:51And here's the question.
00:53If God be for us, who can be against us?
00:56This is what you call a rhetorical question.
00:58What's that mean?
00:59It means the answer is in the question.
01:01Because there's nobody greater than God.
01:03So there's no one can nullify it.
01:05If God's for you, that's it, that finishes the case.
01:08And he is for you.
01:09I want to try to get that across tonight.
01:11God's not out with a club, waiting for you to mess up, to beat you down.
01:16He's not laying traps before you to try to pull you out, pull you down.
01:20Satan does that.
01:21We're not ignorant of his devices.
01:23If the scripture says God be for us, then who can be against us?
01:28The bottom line is it'll make any difference who's against you.
01:31God is for you.
01:33And sometimes if you get around the wrong crowd, you can get the wrong idea about the Lord.
01:39Here's what he said in Romans 8, 32.
01:42He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
01:48how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
01:54Did you know the Bible says that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
02:00How does that work?
02:02Think about that for a moment.
02:03You mean God's not holding a club over your head to beat you into conviction?
02:08No, it doesn't work that way.
02:10What he's saying is that if there's anything left in your soul,
02:15any ability to respond to the goodness of God,
02:18in plain words, he'll do things for you you don't deserve.
02:22He's better to you than you ever deserved, right?
02:27And when you begin to think about that, you think to yourself,
02:29well, that represents the character of the one that we're dealing as it is.
02:34God's character is absolute.
02:37That's all important.
02:38Who is he?
02:39Who do we serve?
02:40The apostle Paul says that I might know him.
02:43See, then he continued on in the power of his resurrection,
02:46fellowship of his suffering, and so forth.
02:48To know him.
02:49Well, he knew him in salvation, but that's only the beginning.
02:52There's much, much more to know about the Lord.
02:55Now, I got saved in 1973.
02:57That was 51 years ago.
03:00So I've been saved a little while.
03:02Fifty-one years.
03:03Been saved a little while.
03:04And I've been through some ups and some downs.
03:07I've messed up.
03:08God dealt with me.
03:09And I hope we don't have anybody in here tonight that's never messed up.
03:13You're the most miserable person on earth.
03:15What are you counting on?
03:20The Lord's dealt with me.
03:22And it's very important to understand this relationship you have with God.
03:26You will get condemned from Satan.
03:29Very clearly, the Bible teaches that he is a condemner.
03:32He condemns.
03:35And the Scripture talks about novice becoming a pastor of a ministry,
03:40lest falling into condemnation because of his youth.
03:44He can do that.
03:46You've got to be careful.
03:47All right?
03:48You've got to be careful.
03:50As you age and learn a few things and hopefully get a little wisdom,
03:54you'll begin to realize you can see the hand of God.
03:58He begins to move in the lives of people, but he never tears them down.
04:03No, no, no.
04:04He's not here to tear you down.
04:06There's enough to tear you down.
04:08Your own personality will do that.
04:10Satan will do that.
04:11And then the constant daily buffeting that you receive from this world,
04:15that will tear you down too.
04:17No, God's not here to tear you down.
04:20But the Scripture says the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
04:24Now, I want you to think about this.
04:27If you're born again, God deals with you as with a son.
04:32And how does he do that?
04:33He does that through chastening.
04:35Immediately you put a negative connotation on chastening,
04:38but it's not always negative.
04:40The truth of the matter is chastening's ultimate goal is instructive.
04:45Right?
04:46It's remedial.
04:47He's there to help you.
04:48He's there to build you up.
04:50But sometimes he has to go in a roundabout way to be able to do that.
04:54And the first thing he does is get your attention.
04:56Now, if you're in here tonight and you know you're doing something you shouldn't be doing
04:59and you know you've been doing it for some time
05:01and you're probably wondering, now, when's the hammer going to fall?
05:04Well, keep this in mind.
05:06If you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers.
05:10In plain words, if I, in 1973, when I got saved,
05:14if I could run back to the same beer joints and go back to the same places
05:17and continue to live in the same life and run with the same crowd,
05:21folks, I didn't get saved.
05:24You see, my crowd changed.
05:27And I've never darkened one of those places again since 1973.
05:31You know, it all changed.
05:33My desires changed.
05:35Things changed about me that I didn't know had changed
05:38until it came time for a confrontation.
05:41Then I realized there's something different.
05:44But I don't miss it because God replaces.
05:47He gives you life for death.
05:49The Scripture teaches that we are the saver of death and to death
05:52for those that don't know God,
05:54the saver of life and to life.
05:56This is why we fellowship with the brethren.
05:58This is why we look forward to meeting together as God's people
06:01because we have the same spirit.
06:03And the same spirit means we have the same life.
06:06We have the life of God dwelling in us.
06:09So, if you are tonight and you're trying to hide something
06:14and you're running or whatever you might be doing,
06:16I urge you to do what it says in 1 John 1.
06:21Confess it.
06:22And if you'll confess it,
06:24He's faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
06:27And what He'll do is cleanse you and forgive you
06:30before it becomes an all-destructive deed
06:35that will destroy your life, everything you love,
06:38and just literally render you a complete casualty in this life.
06:43And there are people, like I said, that are beaten to death.
06:47So, keep this in mind.
06:50The chastening hand of God is because He loves you,
06:53because you're His son.
06:54It's instructive and He wants to teach you.
06:57He may be, in the sense of chastening,
06:59sometimes preparing to keep you away from something that's going to hurt you.
07:04He chastens you because He wants you to know
07:06that whatever you're practicing or whatever you're doing tonight
07:09is robbing you of your joy and your power and your victory
07:12because the Holy Spirit is being grieved.
07:15He may be chastening you to keep you safe from something far worse
07:22because sin always leads to worse sin.
07:25When the demon left, he brought seven worse than himself when he came back.
07:29So, there are definitely gradations of evil.
07:32That's why the Lord said in the prayer, He said,
07:35Keep us from the evil. Keep us from evil.
07:38Protect us from evil.
07:40And you remember I told you how that the Apostle Paul said,
07:42I obtained mercy.
07:44He said, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
07:47Well, unbelief is unbelief, but there is definitely a difference
07:50because the Apostle Paul also says,
07:52Lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief.
07:57You see, there's a difference in the two of them.
07:59An evil heart of unbelief is a heart that's been convicted,
08:02knows the truth, the light's shining brilliantly in their face,
08:06and yet they turn from the light because they hate the light.
08:09They love darkness, and that's an evil heart of unbelief.
08:14The ignorant man that's never been convicted knows nothing of the grace of God.
08:18He's an unbeliever, yes, but it's not evil heart of unbelief.
08:22He's simply an unbeliever, an unbeliever.
08:26So, people have been asking me about what's happened in North Carolina,
08:31and I might have been misunderstood when I said this,
08:34and I want to say it again tonight.
08:36I do not believe for one minute that what happened in North Carolina
08:41can be classified in some general sense
08:44as God judging all those people in North Carolina.
08:47No, I can't say that tonight.
08:49I'm not the judge.
08:50It's not my place to do that,
08:52but there might be individual cases of judgment, certainly,
08:56for the people that are living through this.
08:59They may get closer to God.
09:01There may be some issues that God has for them, certainly,
09:06and I have read a number of statements about the leadership of Asheville, North Carolina in particular,
09:11how the people who grew up in that area,
09:14their homes were, their culture, that's the best way to put it,
09:18not so much mortar and brick,
09:20but their culture was destroyed by a bunch of liberals that brought hell down on them.
09:26They had a place downtown, and I saw this two or three years ago.
09:30You can see it probably now on YouTube.
09:33It's called Drumming.
09:35There's a park in Asheville, North Carolina.
09:37I forget the name of the park,
09:39but they would meet there, and they would drum.
09:41They would beat the drums,
09:43and it pulled the people in, but apparently, you know,
09:46anything you do just about has a spirit attached to it.
09:50You got to be careful what you're doing.
09:52You got to be careful of the crowds you run with
09:54because you can get into trouble,
09:56and so no doubt, no doubt,
10:01some of that issue may very well be
10:04that the Almighty will use this for the glory of God.
10:09He'll use this to get the attention of an awful lot of people.
10:13But folks, they're still finding bodies.
10:17See, they're still finding bodies.
10:20Wouldn't you hate to be over there, and it might be your mother or your father
10:23or your husband, wife, one of your children.
10:26They're still missing, and you wonder,
10:28is that body, you know, my loved one?
10:30You don't know that.
10:32Is God still for you?
10:34Is He for the people of North Carolina?
10:37You know, is He for the people of East Tennessee?
10:41Well, other people in East Tennessee got hit just about as hard as they did in North Carolina.
10:46And tonight, there's going to be a lot of people that get hit hard from Milton down in Florida.
10:52And they're probably going to wake up tomorrow
10:55or come to realize their homes are gone,
10:58everything they've got, their businesses are gone.
11:01You know, so what do you do?
11:03Do you blame God?
11:04Do you say this is God's judgment?
11:08Let me say this tonight because I think this is so very important.
11:11If God is judging, it'll be righteous judgment.
11:16And it'll be what Abraham said,
11:18Shall not the judge of the whole earth do right?
11:20How many of you remember where he said that?
11:23Where?
11:24Exactly.
11:25Somebody said it.
11:26He was standing outside of Sodom.
11:28Abraham was interceding for the people of Sodom.
11:32He was interceding for them because Abraham prayed.
11:35And finally, he realized that it was in vain because he didn't have anything to pray.
11:39He didn't have anything to bargain with God.
11:42The only thing left in Sodom was Lot and his children, his wife.
11:46And so, he appealed to God's character.
11:49Shall not the judge of the whole earth do right?
11:53Now, I'm going to tell you something tonight.
11:55We may not be able to understand all that is right as it relates to God
11:59because God has his own standard.
12:01God's holy.
12:02He's absolute.
12:04He's righteous.
12:05He's perfect.
12:06He's immune from the problems we have when it comes to sin, the things that affect that.
12:12But the bottom line is, he's going to be judged.
12:17And in the book of Revelation, it says,
12:19Holy and righteous art thou, Lord God Almighty.
12:24And they're talking about that lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.
12:29God will be judged, but he wants to be.
12:32Because the whole point is for his creation to understand who the creator is.
12:40And the Lord Jesus Christ is the creator.
12:43And so, the creator went to a cross and died for those that he created.
12:48And he died on a tree that he created himself.
12:52That's what the Son of God did.
12:54So, will the judge of the whole earth do right?
12:56You ask yourself this question.
12:58I ask it.
12:59Who taught more on hell when he was here than anybody?
13:02The Lord Jesus did, all right?
13:04So, that settles the issue.
13:06Okay, you can run to Hades and Ghana and Tartarus and all of that.
13:13Folks, I know that stuff.
13:15But you're not going to prove one way or the other to me.
13:17You're not going to convince me there is no hell.
13:20Christ said there is.
13:22You better believe it.
13:23And shall not the judge of the whole earth do right?
13:26Yes, he will.
13:28Yes, he will.
13:29He'll do right.
13:30And so, that gives me great comfort.
13:34It says in the book of Isaiah chapter 50 verse 7,
13:37The Lord God will help me.
13:39Therefore shall I not be confounded.
13:42Therefore have I set my face like a flint.
13:44And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
13:47He is near that justifieth me.
13:49Who will contend with me?
13:51Let us stand together.
13:53Who is mine adversary?
13:55Let him come near to me.
13:56Behold, the Lord God will help me.
13:58Who is he that shall condemn me?
14:00Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment.
14:04The moth shall eat them up.
14:06Who said that?
14:11That's a reference to somebody.
14:13Who?
14:14That's exactly right.
14:16That's a direct reference to the Son of God.
14:18Right there in Isaiah chapter 50.
14:21And this is the Lord Jesus praying these prayers.
14:24He wrote the Bible, by the way.
14:27Christ did.
14:29He's the author of the book.
14:31In John chapter number 10,
14:33verse 28, it says,
14:34I give unto them eternal life,
14:36and they shall never perish.
14:39Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
14:42My Father which gave them me is greater than all,
14:44and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
14:46I and my Father are one.
14:50I believe that when God gave you eternal life,
14:53He gave you eternal life.
14:55And you are already living that eternal life.
15:00Oh yeah, you don't start living it
15:02when the flesh, the soul, the spirit leaves the body.
15:06Your spirit's already born again, born of God.
15:08So you're living literally the life of God.
15:11And that's what motivates you
15:13and gives you life tonight.
15:15Why don't you think about this for a moment, though.
15:19For 27 years of my life,
15:2127, 27,
15:2327 years of my life,
15:25I was never convicted of anything I ever did.
15:28Never.
15:29Now occasionally it might bother me, you know.
15:31You get so sorry and low down,
15:33you wake up and you say to yourself,
15:34how can anybody be as sorry and low down as I am?
15:37But you don't change your life
15:40by how you feel about anything.
15:42You don't have the power to do that.
15:44So for 27 years I was never chastened.
15:47Do you know why?
15:50Because I didn't belong to him.
15:53But since then,
15:57he won't let me get away with anything.
16:02And I don't know about you.
16:05And after a while, you know,
16:07they kick this old mule a few times,
16:09he's gonna wake up and learn something.
16:11There's just some things God won't put up with.
16:14How many of you agree with that?
16:16I'm glad we got an honest congregation in here tonight.
16:20Amen.
16:21You know, I've told you before,
16:22and the reason I do this,
16:23I lay this little thing out for you,
16:25because I want you to think about it.
16:27What should a sinner's attitude toward a sinner be?
16:33Now think about that.
16:35Well, I mean, there's a lot of, you know,
16:37on the surface there's a lot of answers to it,
16:40but it can get pretty deep, can't it?
16:42Right?
16:43Let him that thinketh he standeth
16:46take heed, lest he fall.
16:49You see?
16:50He thinks he stands.
16:52He does the thinking that he's standing.
16:55All right?
16:56The Apostle Paul said,
16:57I'm convinced he's able to keep
17:00that which I have committed to him
17:02against that day.
17:05Anything could happen to any of us,
17:07and we could get to the point to where
17:09we would renounce our faith.
17:11I remember a few years ago,
17:12I've got a pile of books.
17:13I've gotten rid of a pile of books,
17:15but we had a young man in our church here,
17:17and he left, and he moved out.
17:20He went on south somewhere,
17:22and he gave me all his books,
17:25and I thought, this is not good.
17:27This is not good.
17:29He gave me all his books.
17:31In other words, I'm done with this.
17:33That's the idea.
17:34I'm finished,
17:35and he had a lot of good books.
17:36He knew what a good book was.
17:39He gave them to me,
17:40and of course, I am,
17:42I hate to confess it,
17:43but I am half bookworm.
17:47My wife says I'm a hoarder.
17:49I'm not a hoarder.
17:50I'm a pack rat.
17:53Now, there's,
17:54she's back there shaking,
17:55nodding her head.
17:57Say, what's the difference
17:58between a pack rat and a hoarder?
18:00Well, a pack rat's somebody that doesn't,
18:02I don't like to throw stuff away
18:03because I guarantee
18:04every time I've done it,
18:05I've needed it later
18:06for something else.
18:07I just can't stand
18:09if it's useful,
18:10if it's good.
18:11You feel that way, brothers?
18:13Are you a pack rat, too?
18:21Wives, you know,
18:22they're notorious.
18:24A wife can get away
18:25with saying a lot of things, too.
18:26Nobody else can, right?
18:28She went in my office
18:29the other day,
18:30and she came out,
18:31her face was as pale
18:32as it could be.
18:33She looked at me and said,
18:34you're a hoarder.
18:40It has a lot of
18:41electrical equipment in there.
18:42You know, I do television,
18:43this and that,
18:44and this and that,
18:45but she saw all that.
18:47But it's not.
18:48Every piece of that equipment,
18:50most of it, 90% of it,
18:51I'm using,
18:52use it all the time.
18:54How many have ever seen
18:55that thing on YouTube
18:56and TV specials about hoarders?
18:58I mean, you can't even
18:59get around the house.
19:00You can't even see the floor.
19:03That's pitiful.
19:05I had someone come to me
19:06a few years ago
19:07here at the church,
19:08and she says,
19:09I want you to intervene.
19:11I said, what do you want,
19:12what do you want me
19:13to intervene for?
19:14She says, well,
19:15now such and such
19:16and such and such
19:17is a hoarder.
19:19And if you've ever
19:20been to her house,
19:21you'll know what I'm
19:22talking about.
19:23She's a hoarder.
19:24And I'd had people
19:25mention that to me,
19:26that they had been there,
19:27and they couldn't find
19:28the way through
19:29the front door.
19:31I don't know what,
19:32I don't know what causes it.
19:33I don't have an answer
19:34for that.
19:36But she wanted me
19:37to intervene
19:38and do whatever I could
19:39to get this hoarder
19:41straightened up.
19:42She came to a pack rat.
19:46You don't come
19:47to a pack rat
19:48to straighten up a hoarder.
19:50I mean, the minute
19:51this pack rat
19:52had walked into her house,
19:53well, I can use that.
19:57Oh, yeah.
19:59Oh, yeah.
20:01I've got gaskets
20:02for Volkswagen's.
20:03Volkswagen's got
20:04a little round thing
20:05on the bottom
20:06that you,
20:07that little plate you drop,
20:08and it's got a little screen
20:09in there, you drop it.
20:10That's how you change
20:11the oil in a Volkswagen.
20:12I've got gaskets
20:13that fit Volkswagen's
20:14that's over 50 years old.
20:17Yeah.
20:18I just don't like
20:19to throw stuff away.
20:20You know.
20:21But the bottom line is
20:22we are what we are.
20:24And I made my living
20:25with my hands
20:26before I started pastoring.
20:27I was a professional mechanic.
20:29I've still got my tools.
20:31I've got them,
20:32had them.
20:33I've got, I've had,
20:34I've got tools I've had
20:35for well over 50 years.
20:36And they're still good.
20:38You take care of the tools,
20:39if they're good tools,
20:40they'll last you.
20:41They'll last you.
20:43How'd I get on this?
20:48Oh, I remember now.
20:49It's for the chastening.
20:51You know,
20:52you don't have any joy
20:53if you're not doing,
20:54if you're not living
20:55the way the Lord wants you to.
20:56Now, look.
20:57Now,
20:58you're talking
20:59to an old dog in here.
21:00You can come in here
21:01and get all worked up
21:02in the service
21:03and hoop and holler,
21:04you know,
21:05and I'm all for hooping
21:06and hoop all you can.
21:07Good night.
21:08But you can come in here
21:09and get all fired up emotionally
21:10and then walk right back
21:11out that door
21:12and go right back
21:13to the same sin you were in.
21:15All right?
21:16Okay.
21:17What you're trying to do
21:18is do in the flesh
21:20what can only come
21:21by the Spirit of God.
21:22You don't have any joy.
21:24You're waiting for
21:25the next emotional high.
21:27It's a religious
21:28emotional high.
21:30That's what you're living for.
21:31And a lot of people do that.
21:33They live from
21:34emotional high
21:35to emotional high.
21:37But if you've got
21:38the joy of the Lord,
21:39you may come to
21:40the deadest service in town
21:41and walk out the back door
21:42rejoicing and praising God
21:44because the service
21:45doesn't determine your joy.
21:48Well, this is what he says
21:49in the book of Hebrews
21:50when he talks about chastening.
21:52He wants you to have joy.
21:54And so here's what
21:55you need to do tonight.
21:56You need to find out
21:57if it really is
21:58the chastening hand of God.
22:00Now, here's the way it works.
22:01If you're doing something
22:03and you're uncertain of it
22:04and what the Bible says
22:05for whatsoever is not of faith
22:06is sin,
22:07it may not be a big deal
22:08but it's something
22:09that's eaten at you.
22:11Something that's just not right.
22:13Right? It's just not right.
22:15But you're not willing
22:16to give it up.
22:17And you're waiting for God
22:18to let you know
22:20if you're going to be able
22:21to continue on in what
22:22you're doing or not.
22:23Well, I assure you tonight
22:25if you are his son,
22:28if you belong to him,
22:29if there's any doubt
22:30in your mind
22:31about what it is,
22:32he'll let you know.
22:34And he's long
22:35suffering in it.
22:37Boy, does he ever put up
22:38a long suffering.
22:40Have you learned that
22:41about the Lord?
22:43On the other hand,
22:45if you're not a son of God,
22:46if you're not born again,
22:48sin when it goes out
22:49from you, okay,
22:51it will not cease
22:52until it's finished.
22:54All right?
22:55And sin when it is finished
22:56bringeth forth what?
22:57Death.
22:59Death.
23:00God, Christian,
23:01my dear Christian brother
23:02or sister,
23:03God doesn't want you dead.
23:04He wants you here
23:05as a witness and a testimony.
23:06Okay?
23:07That's what the chastening
23:08is for,
23:09to get you right with God,
23:10get the joy back,
23:12get you where you're
23:13living victorious,
23:14and you're getting
23:15some victory.
23:16And the more victory you get
23:17and things like that
23:18help you mature,
23:19that helps you grow.
23:20On the other hand,
23:22if you're sitting
23:23in this house tonight
23:24and you've been for years
23:25into something
23:26and you're sneaking around
23:27hiding it
23:28and there's been
23:29no chastisement,
23:30no real conviction from God,
23:31but you know how to get
23:32worked up in a service,
23:33you can get that
23:34emotional religious high,
23:35you know,
23:36and you've got
23:37everybody fooled,
23:38you're dead,
23:39you're lost,
23:41you don't know him,
23:42and that ought to
23:43scare you to death.
23:45Like I say,
23:46he won't let me
23:47get away with anything.
23:50And see,
23:51sometimes he'll come to me
23:52and stuff that I don't
23:53even think about,
23:54don't know about,
23:55and he'll close
23:56and he'll put his hand on it.
23:58And then you have
23:59to learn this.
24:00You have to learn
24:01to repent,
24:03confess,
24:04and draw back to him
24:05like a little child.
24:07I think a dog
24:08is probably one of the
24:09best illustrations
24:10that I've ever seen
24:11of this,
24:12a dog.
24:13You ever watch
24:14The Way of the Dog?
24:15I don't have one.
24:16When I was a kid,
24:17child,
24:18with my brother ever,
24:19back then stray dogs
24:20were everywhere.
24:21How many remember stray dogs?
24:22Oh, Lord have mercy.
24:23Knoxville, Tennessee,
24:24there was an army
24:25of stray dogs.
24:26They were,
24:27all you had to do
24:28was feed him one time,
24:29you got a dog.
24:30You got a dog.
24:31You got it from then on.
24:33And you get mad at him
24:34and you may tap him
24:35on the rear end
24:36or something like that
24:37and you'll hear him
24:38hollering that,
24:39but he'll run right back
24:40to you
24:41and get right down
24:42at your feet.
24:43How many has ever
24:44had a dog do that?
24:45That's exactly the attitude
24:46you should have
24:47with the Lord
24:48when he has to tap you,
24:49he has to get you attention,
24:50he has to do something,
24:52and then come right
24:53back to his feet.
24:54Say, Lord,
24:55I deserved it.
24:56Lord, I'm not making
24:57excuses for it.
24:58You're my Lord
24:59and I'm not going
25:00to give you up.
25:01I love you
25:02and I'm going to serve you
25:03until the day I die.
25:04Then he lays his hand
25:05upon your soul.
25:06He blesses you,
25:07cleanses you,
25:08and he fills you
25:09with the Holy Ghost.
25:10Isn't that a lot simpler
25:11than rebelling against God
25:12and snuffing up on him
25:13and running from him?
25:14It really is.
25:15It's a lot.
25:16It is.
25:17And so,
25:18the Bible says,
25:19if God be for us,
25:20who can be against us?
25:21Now, if you've confessed
25:22your sin,
25:23you've prayed to God
25:24and you've confessed it,
25:25you've done everything
25:26you know to do,
25:27and you feel peace
25:28when you do it,
25:29then all of a sudden,
25:30oh, well,
25:31it just comes back
25:32and just gets
25:33beating you to death
25:34with it.
25:35And all that word,
25:36he loves hypocrite.
25:37He'll say,
25:38you didn't mean
25:39what you said.
25:40You're just as bad
25:41as you ever were.
25:42Nothing's really changed.
25:43You just got yourself
25:44a head full of religion
25:45and on and on and on.
25:46Every argument
25:47under the sun,
25:48he'll beat you
25:49and beat you
25:50and beat you
25:51and beat you
25:52and beat you with it.
25:53That's not God.
25:55You got to learn
25:56to differentiate
25:57between the voice of God
25:59and the voice of the devil.
26:01When God cleanses you
26:02from something,
26:03he'll never mention it again.
26:06It's finished
26:08because the blood of Christ
26:09has cleansed it
26:11and it's gone.
26:12Now, you may do it again,
26:13but it won't come from God,
26:15the conviction,
26:16you know,
26:17repeating something.
26:19No, no.
26:20Once he cleanses,
26:22once he forgives,
26:23it's over with him
26:25and he's faithful
26:26and just
26:27to forgive us our sins
26:29and cleanse us
26:30from all unrighteousness.
26:31That's a great blessing to me
26:34because I still have
26:35a little while left to live.
26:37Don't know how long.
26:39I got it worked out
26:40with the Lord the other day.
26:41I said,
26:42now, Lord,
26:43I know where I'm going
26:44and I'm prepared
26:45and I'm ready to go anytime,
26:46but I just assume
26:47you didn't tell me what day.
26:50I'd kind of like for it
26:51to be a surprise.
26:53How many of you feel the same way?
26:54Amen.
26:56Yeah.
26:57I don't want some mark
26:58on a calendar
26:59where they're going to say,
27:00oh, you're finished
27:01this day right here.
27:02It's over.
27:03How well do you think
27:04you sleep for the week
27:05before that happens?
27:06Why, good night.
27:07We're not made for that.
27:09No, God knows
27:10and that's good enough with me, right?
27:12I know where I'm going.
27:13I know whom I have believed.
27:14I know that.
27:15I know how I have my choices.
27:17I know how I feel about things.
27:19I'd like to be right
27:20in the middle of a service
27:22where the power of God's moving.
27:24Holy Ghost is in this house.
27:25People are getting right with God
27:27and Him tap me on the shoulder
27:29and say,
27:30son, you're leaving today.
27:31And I said,
27:32well, Lord, let's go
27:33from right here.
27:35But I don't have that choice.
27:36That's not my call.
27:38And I don't spend all my time
27:40thinking about dying either.
27:41That's morbidity.
27:42You don't do that.
27:43We're not going to die anyway.
27:45He that liveth and believeth in me
27:46shall what?
27:47Never die.
27:48So, you know,
27:49an exodus is the best term.
27:51And that's what the Bible says.
27:52He talked to them about His exodus.
27:54The Lord Jesus spoke with them
27:55about His exodus.
27:57And what does that word mean?
27:58That means His departure.
27:59An exodus.
28:00To leave.
28:01And the Apostle Paul says,
28:03Peter said,
28:04I must shortly put off this,
28:05my tabernacle.
28:06The Lord has showed me how
28:08that I must do that.
28:09And the Apostle Paul said,
28:10the time of my departure
28:11is at hand.
28:12So, yes,
28:13they knew that their time
28:14was running short.
28:15And I mean here,
28:16look at me.
28:17I'm 78 years old.
28:18How long am I going to live?
28:19Well,
28:20if the Lord doesn't come back
28:21in three or four or five
28:22or six years,
28:23you know,
28:24they're planning on stuff now,
28:25building stuff around here.
28:26They're going to open it up
28:27in 25 years from now.
28:28I won't be here.
28:29I doubt,
28:30seriously,
28:31I believe the Lord
28:32will be back before then anyway.
28:33I go by and I see
28:34these places out here
28:35where they're opening it
28:36and digging the ground up
28:37and they're starting
28:38to build these buildings
28:39and I say to myself,
28:40I doubt if I'll ever see
28:41them built,
28:42finished,
28:43you know.
28:44I'm not living
28:45for the future here.
28:46My future's not here.
28:47My future's there.
28:48So,
28:49when you get down
28:50to this point in your life,
28:51you say to yourself,
28:52you know,
28:53I did some stupid things
28:54when I was younger,
28:55just plain stupid.
28:56And I'm talking about saved.
28:57I was saved
28:58and did some stupid stuff.
28:59Lord,
29:00help me
29:01that I got a little wisdom
29:02by now
29:03that I don't do that again.
29:04God,
29:05give me
29:06a little wisdom
29:07that I don't do that again.
29:08God,
29:09give me
29:10a little wisdom
29:11that I don't do that again.
29:12God,
29:13give me
29:14wisdom.
29:15Give me a little grace
29:16and I've learned,
29:17hopefully,
29:18the lessons
29:19that I need to learn
29:20from it.
29:21And I hope you do too.
29:22Amen.
29:23I don't,
29:24like I started
29:25to say a minute ago
29:26when I said this,
29:27right now,
29:28I don't know
29:29of anything
29:30between me
29:31and the Lord,
29:32but He may,
29:33He may put His finger
29:34on something
29:35by the time I walk out
29:36that back door.
29:37I don't know.
29:38As far as I know
29:39right now,
29:40but here's the point.
29:41You don't know
29:42where you're gonna be
29:43in tomorrow.
29:44You don't know
29:45what's liable
29:46to happen to you.
29:47You don't know
29:48where you'll be
29:49a week from now.
29:50You don't know.
29:51You don't know.
29:52If I've learned
29:53anything about life,
29:54man,
29:55I've learned
29:56how it can change
29:57just like that.
29:58I mean,
29:59your life can be
30:00turned upside down
30:01in just a moment.
30:02So,
30:03what are you gonna do?
30:04Well,
30:05I'm gonna put my
30:06trust and faith
30:07in God
30:08that He'll keep
30:09that which I've committed
30:10to Him
30:11and I've done that
30:12and by the grace of God,
30:13that's how I'm gonna live
30:14and by the grace of God,
30:15that's how I'm gonna
30:16finish my course.
30:17And,
30:18to me now,
30:19at my age,
30:20the most important thing
30:21in my life
30:22is how I finish my course.
30:24How I finish it.
30:26How I finish it.
30:28You know,
30:29on track,
30:30they've got relays.
30:31They pass the baton
30:32and they have,
30:33usually,
30:34they've got the fastest
30:35runner on the last leg
30:36and he or she will,
30:38sometimes,
30:39they'll be behind
30:41and then that fast one
30:42will pull them up
30:43and they'll win.
30:44They'll win the relay
30:45and they finish their course.
30:47I ran track.
30:48I ran 440,
30:49which is,
30:50one time around,
30:51I ran 120-yard high hurdles.
30:53That's what I did in track.
30:54Then I played basketball.
30:56Did all that.
30:57I enjoyed it.
30:58Sports are good.
30:59I'm all for it.
31:00I encourage you,
31:01young men,
31:02young women,
31:03to get in sports
31:04and enjoy it
31:05because you learn more
31:06than just simply physical.
31:07There's more to it
31:08than physical.
31:09There's a camaraderie involved,
31:10team play and all that.
31:12I don't want to get up here
31:13tonight and start coaching,
31:14but the bottom line is,
31:16sports can be a very good thing
31:17for you.
31:18No question about it.
31:19You see,
31:20no question about it.
31:21But they had a sign
31:22that we went under
31:23every time we went out
31:24on the court.
31:26Okay,
31:27we'd go out on the basketball court
31:28and we'd play the visiting team
31:30and we walked under this sign.
31:31It says,
31:33losers never quit
31:37and quitters never win.
31:40Winners never quit
31:42and quitters never win.
31:45Amen?
31:46And that's what we fought under.
31:47I've seen on television
31:49over here at UT,
31:51they showed the locker room
31:53and they showed the football players
31:54as they were coming under it.
31:56And if I remember correctly,
31:57it said something to this effect.
31:59Today,
32:00I'll give my whole life
32:03to UT,
32:04to Tennessee.
32:05Something of that nature.
32:06Well, there were...
32:07Pardon?
32:08I'll give my all for Tennessee today.
32:09I'll give my all for Tennessee today.
32:12All right?
32:13So they're building momentum.
32:15They're building camaraderie.
32:16They're building,
32:17you know,
32:18the physical,
32:19the mental,
32:20the mental part
32:21that's very important.
32:22If you go out there on that court
32:23thinking you're going to get whipped
32:24and you can't win,
32:26you more than likely
32:27will get whipped
32:28and can't win.
32:30And our coach told us this.
32:32Sid Hatfield was our basketball coach
32:34at Rule when I went up there.
32:36He said,
32:38he said,
32:39I don't care who you play.
32:40He told us this more than once.
32:42I don't care who you play
32:44and I don't care how good they are.
32:46They may be a lot better than you,
32:48but on any given day,
32:51you can beat them.
32:53It can happen.
32:55What just happened in Nashville, Tennessee?
33:00What just happened in Nashville, Tennessee?
33:03Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:05Number one team in the country.
33:06I'm not taking anything from Alabama.
33:08They went out there and fought hard,
33:09but for some reason,
33:11it fell to Vanderbilt, didn't it?
33:13They won the game.
33:15You better believe there was some shocked people.
33:17And I'm not trying to put Vanderbilt down.
33:20But man, they came out of those,
33:21they came out of the stands
33:23and they were rolling over the fences
33:25onto the field
33:26and that was one happy bunch.
33:28And I'm all for it.
33:29Good for them.
33:31But that was that day
33:33that Alabama lost to Vanderbilt.
33:37And since then,
33:39Alabama has lost some of their players.
33:42Their football players have left the team
33:45because of that loss.
33:47For some reason, they're saying,
33:49I'm going to go with a team that can win.
33:52And on it goes.
33:53It's quiet in here tonight.
33:57Well, I'm going to finish my course.
33:59I'm going to finish it.
34:00I'm going to finish it.
34:01I'm going to finish it.
34:03Yes, sir.
34:07Finish it.
34:08Finish my course.
34:09And there's nothing greater that I can do than that.
34:11How about you?
34:12What are you going to do with yours?
34:14You're going to finish it with the Lord
34:16even if you mess up,
34:18even if you backslide,
34:20even if some old sin
34:22keeps hounding at you,
34:24you know, your flesh.
34:26The Apostle Paul has said,
34:27I put no confidence in the flesh.
34:29He meant that.
34:31And here it is.
34:32It raises its ugly head up again.
34:34Remember this.
34:36Don't let it stop you from finishing your course.
34:39When you leave this world,
34:41you'll get victory over it,
34:42and you'll have the power of God in your life,
34:44and you'll have joy in your soul,
34:46and you can thank the good Lord
34:47what the Christian life is all about.
34:50It's not about some Shangri-La,
34:52some fabricated, you know, above everything,
34:56feel-good religion for the rest of your life.
34:58No, it's the real world
35:00that you'll have to get up
35:01and go out into tomorrow morning
35:02when you go to work.
35:04You're going to be working around people
35:05who don't know the Lord,
35:07and you'd be surprised
35:08at how many of those people
35:09that don't know the Lord,
35:11they know you,
35:13and they're watching you.
35:15They are watching you like an eagle.
35:18Yes, they are.
35:20Here's the thing, and I'll shut up.
35:23When you get up and start preaching to people,
35:27all right, they'll sit there.
35:30They'll let you preach to them,
35:32but boy, when you hit the floor,
35:34you better start walking straight.
35:38You better, because human nature says,
35:40all right, if you're going to jump up there
35:41and start preaching to me,
35:43you better start living what you preach.
35:46Amen, and they'll watch you.
35:48Father, bless your word.
35:49Time we've had together.
35:50Hopefully, I've given a little bit of wisdom,
35:52instruction to the people tonight
35:53that'll help them.
35:55Bless them, Father.
35:56Lord, probably most of the people in this house,
35:58they know you and they love you,
36:00but just like all the rest of us, Father,
36:01they have besetting sins.
36:03They have the old flesh.
36:04In their mind, they serve the law of Christ,
36:06but with the flesh, the law of sin.
36:07They know that, and they want peace from it,
36:09and they want victory over it,
36:11and they want to live for you.
36:12They want to serve you,
36:13and so when you chasten them,
36:15they'll begin to learn how you deal with that sin.
36:17They'll begin to learn the victory over it.
36:19They'll begin to learn how much you love them.
36:21They'll begin to learn
36:22what you want to do with their lives.
36:23You're for us.
36:24If you be for us, who can be against us?
36:26Praise God tonight for that simple truth.
36:29In Jesus' name I pray.
36:31Amen.