Well, it's good to be with you again.
It's been a couple years since I've been
down here and I can echo the words
of our leader earlier when he said that
the changes that have been going on are
just something really to behold.
I know it's going to be a good
weekend.
I understand that there's going to be people
adding to our numbers throughout the day and
through tomorrow, and I'm sure that we'll have
a good time.
How many of you here know me?
How many of you don't know me?
All of you that know me, stay away
from those people.
Don't listen to anything that Mike has to
say because he's a misplaced Omahaan down here
helping out.
He's been a real big help to us
in Omaha.
This weekend, we're going to share from the
word of God some practical lessons on the
Christian's walk of faith.
We're going to look at a number of
things this weekend.
Basically, I'm going to share with you six
character studies, three from the Old Testament and
three from the New Testament.
If I look around, I see we're pretty
evenly divided between men and women.
I hope it stays that way over the
weekend.
I work for a company that is very
conscious, because the government has made them conscious,
of equal opportunity.
This weekend, so I wouldn't be in trouble,
our character sketches will be three women and
three men.
I didn't want the women to feel that
they come for naught.
We have some character studies, and the lessons
that we'll learn from the women are three
positive lessons, so you can be encouraged in
that.
The men are not so lucky.
Out of the men that we're going to
study, only one out of the three really
gives us a positive lesson.
But nonetheless, we're going to have some positive
lessons, even from those that we sometimes look
at with a negative type of look.
We're going to be looking at a man
who was a priest before God.
We'll look at a woman who served God,
a man who was dissatisfied with God, a
woman who gave all to God, a man
who walked with God, and a woman who
pleaded with the Son of God.
We'll be looking at those six.
I'm not going to tell you their names.
You probably already guessed a few of them.
We're going to be looking at these six
people, and these lessons that we're going to
look at over this weekend are not six
people that we normally study.
They're not the big names of Scripture.
One of them might be, but they're not
the big names of Scripture.
I read an interesting verse in Timothy, and
it says this.
All Scripture is inspired by God, spoken by
God, and it is profitable.
If those men and women's lives are in
the word of God, they're there for our
profit.
But what happens so often is that we
take those...
I forgot about you people over here.
I won't do that anymore.
So often we look at people when we're
going through Scripture, and unless something is really
dynamic and we've heard it a number of
times, we tend to gloss over their lives.
In the last several months, since our brother
called me and asked me to come and
share the word with you, I've been looking
at these people in depth, dissecting their very
lives from the word of God to see
what has God got for us in their
lives.
He's got something for us, lessons to learn,
principles to hang on to.
You know, so often today as I minister
among the children of God, is that I
see so many people today that don't have
a set of handlebars on their bicycle as
they pedal through life.
They have nothing to guide them.
They understand that there is the word of
God, but getting a hold of it and
making use of it in their lives is
a sad tragedy that is so prevalent today
among many Christians.
They read the word of God, but they
don't grasp hold of it and put it
to use in their lives.
And this weekend I'd like to share with
you these six lessons from these biblical characters.
This morning will be kind of an opening
lesson.
We're going to be looking at several men
this morning, one that our Lord Jesus Christ
said was special to him.
He chose them.
We'll be looking at their lives from the
book of Matthew.
Now, this morning, so as not to tire
you, I don't know about you, but I
was after getting done singing with our brother
Glenn.
And from now on it's Larry, not Mr.
Ainsworth or Brother Ainsworth.
It's Larry.
And all of you that don't know me,
be sure and come by and introduce yourselves
because I want to get to know all
of you.
That's what this time together is about.
And I hope you won't look at me
as being an old fuddy-duddy speaker.
I may be fuddy-duddy, but I don't
want to be old and I don't want
to be fuddy-duddy either.
I'm like Brother Glenn.
I'm just a little nigh over 16.
A couple times, maybe almost three times.
Now that's sad, you know.
But anyhow, I want us all to get
acquainted together and it's good to see.
Denise, how are you?
Here's my little lovely girl from Omaha down
here helping out this summer.
I want to get to know all of
you that I can and I would pray
that if there's any of you here this
morning and as we go through the weekend,
if you're experiencing some problems in your life
and there's just a wealth of help around
here.
As I look around I see some people
that I know and there's just a wealth
of help around here.
And if you would like to speak to
somebody that you need some help in your
life, be sure, don't go away.
Don't let the weekend be unprofitable.
Make it a profitable one for you.
We just want Christians to be built up
in the faith and encouraged in these last
days.
We were singing just a few moments ago.
The day is coming.
It won't be very long.
This life of toil here will be ended
and we're going to be standing facing him.
And dear Christians this morning, I want to
ask you, what are you going to have
to put into his blessed hands?
What kind of crowns are you going to
be able to cast at his feet?
The day of toil I firmly believe.
As we see the world events shaping up
around us, how can we have any other
thought in our mind but he is coming
soon.
He will be here soon.
Now, I don't know about you, but after
singing with our brother Glenn, I was about
woofed.
And I was going to have you all
stand up and kind of shake it loose,
but I know that he kept us going.
And our brother that was over here tickling
the iris, boy, if you need a job,
come up to Omaha, man, we'll put you
there.
He does a beautiful job, doesn't he?
And I know that you're going to have
some people that are going to come and
talk to you about singing because, boy, I
don't know who was over in here, but
I heard some real nice voices coming from
over in here and I'm sure if I'd
have said over here the same.
So you ladies and some of you men,
you guys can't sing as well as the
women, but give it a shot, man.
Show them that we can do a good
job.
Don't look to me because I can't read
a note.
In fact, in Omaha, they give me a
little stipend each month.
They say, just don't sing.
Keep it down because I have a tendency.
He had me going this morning.
I was about ready to jump up and
say hallelujah.
And I said, no, you remember, you're the
dignified preacher.
Keep it cool.
So we want to have a good time
this weekend.
And so sharing your gifts that you have
truly will make it a good weekend.
When you turn in your Bibles to the
book of Matthew, please.
Matthew chapter four.
And it's
terrible when we have to use other things
so we can see better, but this is
a necessity.
The words have a tendency to dance if
I don't use them.
And like I said, Glenn, it's terrible to
get old, isn't it?
I feel sorry for those of you that
are.
Matthew chapter four.
We're going to look at some verses in
the book of Matthew.
And I would like you to turn to
the fourth chapter and we'll begin reading at
verse 18.
I'm going to be reading to you from
the New American Standard.
If you have the King James or anything
else, that's fine.
King James, you won't have any problem if
you have any other version.
It may be a little bit different, but
the intent is still the same.
And walking by the Sea of Galilee, he,
that is, Jesus, saw two brothers, Simon, who
was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting
a net into the sea, for they were
fishermen.
And he said to them, Follow me.
Follow me and I will make you fishers
of men.
And they immediately left the nets and followed
him.
And going on from there, he saw two
other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and
John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee,
their father, mending their nets.
And he called them.
And they immediately left the boat and their
father and followed him.
We see on the shore of the Sea
of Galilee a solitary figure.
He comes down the beach.
Those that are sitting in the boat, mending
their nets, know who he is.
They've been very impressed by him.
They've heard him.
They've been involved somewhat with him.
And they see him coming.
And he stops and speaks to them a
very important message.
It's a request, a challenge to them.
Follow me.
Follow me and I will make you fishers
of men.
They leave their nets and follow him.
The solitary figure continues down the beach.
He comes a little farther and he comes
upon another boat.
This time there are three in the boat.
A father with his two sons.
And he gives them the same challenge.
Follow me.
It is said that during the Civil War,
General Philip Sheridan, while engaged in the fierce
battle of the Shenandoah Valley, came out to
see his troops one morning in the midst
of battle.
And as he came upon them, he saw
his troops in hasty retreat before the onslaught
of the Confederate soldiers.
Standing tall in his saddle and riding to
the forefront, he said this to his men.
Stop.
You're going the wrong way.
Follow me.
And he charged into the midst of the
Confederate army.
His men stopped in their retreat and they
saw their leader.
And they turned and they challenged the Confederate
foe and defeated them that day.
Follow me.
Many people today are challenging you to follow
them.
Are you going to follow those whom you
know and trust?
Or are you just going to follow anybody?
As this solitary figure came to speak to
Peter and Andrew, their hearts had already been
touched by the Holy Spirit and by the
very Lord himself while he was here upon
Earth.
They gained that day by his challenge.
Thoughts of eternity.
The eternal souls of men.
What about you?
Ever think about eternity?
The eternalness of a soul?
The eternalness of a life around you?
Some five years ago, I had the very
precious privilege of accompanying my wife into the
delivery room when our last daughter was born.
There has been no other experience, physical experience
in my life, to equal that.
To see one come in and take that
first gasp of air and let out that
cry and to see her there, life beginning
in the wee hours of a Sunday morning.
I thought about that soul many times.
Here is one who has come into the
world whose soul will be eternal.
On that day when our Lord Jesus Christ
talked to Peter and Andrew, the thought was
of eternity.
I will make you fishers of men.
Those two men arose to the challenge because
eternity was now emblazoned upon their lives and
their hearts.
For we read later in the book of
Acts that Peter, oh, we think of that
life that Peter lived while he was walking
with our Lord Jesus Christ here upon this
earth.
We see all the failures of Peter.
We see so little of the triumph in
his life until we come to the book
of Acts.
And then we begin to notice some changes,
some dynamic changes in a life.
But the seeds of these changes were made
that day there by the Sea of Galilee.
When Peter and Andrew step forth from that
boat never again to enter into that work,
but to enter into an eternal work for
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of us, as we walk life, we
try to put eternity to one side.
We really don't want to think of the
things of eternity because they have a tendency
sometimes to bring up within us a fear,
a fear.
Yes, there are souls perishing around us.
There are those that are hitting in a
mad dash for eternity to the broad road,
going down the broad road that leadeth to
destruction.
So oft times when we see this, our
lips remain silent.
For we find it very difficult to say
a word, but the thoughts of eternity are
still there.
But when will they come forth to speak
to others of eternity?
Of an eternity that will be with Him
who is the lover of our souls.
We read in the book of Acts that
Peter stood one day emboldened by the power
of the Holy Spirit and he spoke.
And 3,000 souls were added that day
to the kingdom of God.
3,000 souls.
Boy, we don't hear preaching like that anymore.
It is very difficult to get good preaching
anymore, isn't it?
But yet, you know, God uses these feeble
lips of clay to do His work.
For it is by the preaching of the
gospel that souls come to a knowledge of
eternity.
Of an eternity lost or an eternity gained.
For that day, Peter and Andrew came to
a knowledge of the eternity of man.
One author has so aptly put it, that
day they found an everlasting kingdom, an eternal
influence, an enduring name.
An enduring name.
For it is one who calls us.
Follow me.
He's not just anybody.
You know, I'm amazed at the people today
as you pick up the paper.
You read about guys like Sun Yung Moon
who speaks.
And the millions around the world flock to
him.
I was amazed that when he was in
New York, 400,000 people come to hear
this man.
Thousands commit their lives to following him.
We hear of others that draw people to
them.
Follow me, and I will show you what
utopia is.
Hundreds of people found what utopia was like
in Guyana.
As they gave their lives to follow their
Savior who ordered their execution.
Who are you following this morning?
Who are you following?
Are you following Him who says, follow me,
and I will make you fishers of men?
Or are you following some other leader that
this world has to offer?
Maybe it's not a flesh and blood leader.
Maybe it's just a leader that says self
first.
But that morning, or on that day, that
this solitary figure walked.
It wasn't just Peter and Andrew he brought
the message to.
It was two others.
A father and his two sons.
James and John that morning were sitting there
mending their nets.
They too had heard of him.
Maybe they had interacted with him before.
Scripture doesn't really give us a whole lot
to base our fact upon.
But he said, follow me.
What did James and John hear in that
message that morning or on that day when
the Lord Jesus Christ said to them, follow
me.
Now when a man comes by and says,
follow me, we said, why?
For what reason would I follow you?
But he spoke to them and he says,
follow me.
And they understood from him who he was.
Here.
Here in this man by following him is
an opportunity for us to live.
To live.
To be alive.
Some years ago, the Peace Corps had this
advertisement.
If you're not doing something with your life,
it doesn't matter how long it is.
If you're not doing something with your life,
it doesn't matter how long it is.
I was reading a book not too long
ago and the author made this comment.
He said the sad tragedy of many people
dying today is that they have never really
lived.
They've never lived.
Let me ask you this morning.
Are you alive?
And when I got in here this morning
at a little after, a little before nine
o'clock, I wasn't too sure I was
alive.
We didn't go to bed until almost two
o'clock and then it was back up
by four and on the road to cover
the last part of the journey.
We had made some commitments in Kansas City
yesterday.
And you know, when you meet old friends
and relatives, you know, you've got to get
it all in while you can.
And so this morning when I arrived, I
said I'm not too sure that I'm all
here.
I said when I told Tim when I
walked out the door, I was telling his
wife, I said I think I've got everything.
I've bowled in all the right places.
So I must be ready to go.
But are we alive spiritually?
To be alive spiritually is to hear that
same one who ordered those words to the
apostles that morning, follow me, is still speaking
today to you and I.
He's speaking to us today.
And are we hearing the words of life?
He says, I am come that you might
have life and that you might have it
more restricted.
If you might have a life that is
burdened down with the cares of eternity.
No, he tells us this.
He says, I am come that you might
have life and that you might have it
more abundantly.
Not a life that is burdened to a
care so great that we cannot walk.
Have you ever seen people that were so
burdened that you knew they weren't walking in
life?
They were just barely able to shuffle through
life because the burden that they bore were
so great.
I think we've all come across people like
that and our hearts go out to them.
Oh, if there was only something I could
do to help them.
And many times we can't.
Well, you know, the problem today is that
many of us avoid responsibilities.
We avoid the opportunity to live for Jesus
Christ.
We avoid the responsibility of drawing alongside of
those in need and undergirding them and lifting
them up.
You know, there's times when I come home
from work.
Our company right now is not putting any
plugs in.
I don't want sympathy and I don't want
you to come with your complaints.
I work for American Telephone and Telegraph.
And you understand that we've undergone a dynamic
change in our corporate structure.
I work for AT&T Technologies.
We're the manufacturing part of the AT&T
system.
But we're undergoing, along with the rest of
the corporation, we're undergoing some dynamic changes.
And they're placing a lot of demands on
us.
I know many of you have gone under
the same thing in your jobs.
12-hour days, 7 days a week.
And you know the burdens you carry out
with you.
You go home and you're carrying these things
with you.
You know, sometimes I walk in the door
and my wife says, what kind of a
day was it?
And I tell her.
She wants to carry a burden.
But you know, there's one there in our
family that she doesn't know what's going on
as far as what kind of day I've
had.
But she, with a couple of words, can
pick up my whole day.
That little 5-year-old, all she has
to do is look up at me and
say, Hi, Dad.
Hi, Dad.
And my teenagers, you know how they are.
Now, they're with us and they won't acknowledge
that I'm their father, so you know.
They'll only give their first names.
They won't say anything.
But I love them anyway.
But anyhow, they acknowledge our greetings.
But they've had their own cares of the
day with school and so forth, their challenges.
But here's one that doesn't really realize what
she can do with those two little words.
And a lot of times she'll just come
in when I'm sitting at my desk going
over things and she'll just open that door
and she'll come in real quietly and she'll
just stand there.
She'll come over and she'll say, Can I
sit on your lap?
Sure.
Put her arm around me and say, Love
you.
You know, those are the experiences we as
the children of God need to share with
one another.
To tell one another, We love you.
And when you're going through experiences, sometimes we
just need somebody to put an arm around
us.
To be an encourager.
I was listening to a tape by a
Christian woman here a few weeks ago that
my wife had.
And I'd heard about this through Chuck Swindoll.
And she said, You know, there's two types
of people in the world today.
There's basement people and there's balcony people.
There's people that are up there in the
balconies that are cheering us on.
And there are those that are down in
the basement and they just want to drag
us down there with them.
I ask myself so many times, Larry, what
type of person are you?
Are you a balcony person?
Are you up there cheering your brothers and
sisters in the Lord in their walk through
life?
Are you being an encouragement to them?
Are you a basement person dragging them down?
You know, it seems it's almost ironical.
When we're a basement person, we seem to
want to drag everybody else down in the
basement so everybody else can be miserable along
with us.
Misery does love company.
But you know, the Lord has called us
to be encouragers.
To be those that can encourage another in
a time of need.
That's living.
You know, as I said in my chair
as a counselor on many occasions, especially in
the area of marriage and premarital counseling, I
think it's very important today that young people
especially understand the principles and the precepts of
marriage as laid down in the Word of
God.
And to me, it's absolutely just one of
the most enjoyable things is when we're talking
about marriage.
It's to see young people take a principle
from the Word of God and all of
a sudden, it comes clear.
It comes clear to them.
And they understand what God is talking about
in His Word.
About the two becoming one flesh.
And how it is for a lifetime.
It's a commitment.
It's a work.
It's a responsibility.
And to lay hold of that.
To me, that's living is to see the
Word of God becoming important to other people.
Becoming a part of their life.
These two men, James and John, saw the
opportunity to live.
Where would we be this morning in the
Word of God without John?
Dear John, the one whom Jesus loved.
Whoever just loved to lean upon the breast
of His beloved Savior.
Wonder what His thoughts were in the final
years of His life as He sat on
the Isle of Patmos and through the power
of the Holy Spirit penned the words of
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Where would we be without the Apostle of
Love?
What would we be without the great Gospel
of John?
The Gospel of the Son of God.
Jesus become flesh to die upon a cross
for us.
For God so loved the world.
John 3.16 is probably the most memorized
verse in all of the world.
And here, on a day, He hears the
Son of God made flesh say, follow me
and I will make you fishers of men.
Follow me.
You know, failing to trust God, failing to
trust Him and to follow Him, we miss
the opportunity to live.
Are you alive today?
Are you living?
Or are you existing?
Well, let's not get too convicting for it's
a beautiful morning, isn't it?
And we come here to have fellowship.
But we need to hear the Word of
God.
We need to hear the Lord Jesus Christ
say, follow me for following me, you live.
Matthew 8.
Let's look at another event.
Matthew 8.
We begin reading at verse 18.
Matthew 8.18 Now when Jesus saw a
crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart
to the other side.
And a certain scribe came to Him and
said to Him, Teacher, I will follow you
wherever you go.
And Jesus said to him, The foxes have
holes and the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere
to lay His head.
And another of the disciples said to Him,
Lord, permit me first to go and bury
my father.
But Jesus said to him, Follow me.
Follow me and allow the dead to bury
the dead.
Did you notice the first scribe?
Jesus, I'll follow you wherever you go.
How about you this morning?
Would you make that statement?
If the Lord Jesus Christ were to manifest
Himself alongside of you this morning, would you
be willing to tell Him, Jesus, I'll follow
you wherever you go.
Wherever you go, I will go with you
no matter what the cost.
I will follow you because I love you.
I'm committed to you.
You are my number one priority in life.
And I will follow you wherever you go.
I've often wondered why God in His Word
never puts the answers to the questions I
have to ask.
I ask, what did the scribe do?
When the Lord Jesus Christ gave him this
answer, the foxes have holes, the birds of
the air have nests, but the Son of
Man has not where to lay His head.
I wonder if that scribe sat there and
scratched his head.
What is he talking about?
Or did he know?
You can bet he knew.
Because it was the greatest challenge that that
scribe had probably heard.
And it was this.
If you say, I will follow you wherever
you go, let me ask you the question.
Have you counted the cost?
For you see, it does cost something to
follow Jesus.
To follow Him, it cost the disciples their
lives.
For of the twelve we read in tradition,
but one died a natural death.
And even that being an exile.
The other eleven all lost their lives in
violent death to the man.
You don't find their deaths recorded in scriptures,
but a few.
But if we go back and search the
history and look at the ancients, we find
they all died violent deaths.
Some were flayed alive.
Some were run through with a spear.
Some were boiled in oil.
Some were hung upon a cross upside down.
They counted the cost and they followed Him.
And that morning or that day, that scribe
was challenged with a commitment and with a
priority.
Do you know what you're saying?
For you see today, many of us count
the cost and we say it's too great.
It's too great to follow Him.
I will only give up this much.
But Jesus says to us, I want all.
Follow me.
But know the cost.
Know that there is a cost.
There is a cost in the commitment to
Jesus Christ.
When we look at that cost, do we
say it is too great?
Do you know what the greatest problem today
is?
People don't know how to add correctly.
People have never understood the scriptural way to
add up the cost.
I was challenged, or I have been challenged
many times in various ways, especially in the
working area, to compromise my faith, to step
out of line, to be one of the
guys.
Now I know none of you probably, and
you aren't challenged with that I'm sure.
I'm the only one that falls for that
gimmick.
Come on, be one of the guys.
You ever have that problem?
How about in the schoolrooms, young people?
How about at school?
Not so much in the schoolrooms, but how
about when you're with your friends?
Come on, be one of the guys.
You know, everybody's doing it.
Who's going to know?
Who's going to care, you know?
Nobody really digs that Christian stuff so much
anymore.
You know, you don't want to be a
religious fanatic.
I'm always interested in meeting other Christians at
work and hear what people have to say
about them.
Oh, you know, he's a fanatic.
He's one of them Christian guys.
One of them holy guys.
Oh really?
What about him?
Well, you know, he's a little bit weird.
A little bit weird.
Weird in what way?
Well, you know, he doesn't drink and he
doesn't smoke and he won't look at our
dirty books and he doesn't cuss.
You know, he's a nice person to be
around.
But he's weird.
That is one of the hardest things for
us to accept, is to be different.
We don't want to be different.
We want to fit in.
We don't want to be noticed for something
that will count.
That's because we don't know how to add
scripturally.
We don't understand how God keeps score when
it comes to adding up the essentials of
life.
Believe this from the Word of God.
You make an idle commitment to God, He's
going to challenge you on it.
You make a commitment to God, you can
rest assured that He's going to test you
on it.
You know, it's always very interesting to me,
you know, I say, I'm not going to
let this person bother me.
You ever have anybody in life that bothers
you?
You don't have that problem?
Okay, well, we won't go into it.
But just listen from my standpoint, you know.
In the workplace, being a supervisor over 40
-some people, you know, there are days when
people challenge me.
And there are times when I say, Lord,
if you don't do something with them, I'm
going to.
And you know, I say, I don't know
about you, but I have to pray for
patience.
But then on the other hand, I go
back and I read in the book of
James that, you know, if you need it,
ask from God and He will give it
to us.
But don't ask like the storm tossed in,
you know.
And I really don't think I trust God
that He's going to give me patience.
But I say, Lord, I need the patience
to deal with this person.
And I know that with You, I can
do it.
Because You tell me with Your strength, I
can do all things.
Amen.
And boy, I'm off to work.
I remember one morning, I had gone to
work and I was just...
The morning quiet time was just great.
You ever have those mornings?
Get into the Word of God and the
Lord just seems to empty the basket out
all over you.
Eat, you know, take it all.
And you have a feast.
And you're feeling so good and you go
to work.
I remember I was just feeling great.
I thought, Oh Lord, this is going to
be another great coat
off.
And one of my employees was going to
do a biology job on me.
That would dissect me.
She says, I'm unhappy with you and I'm
going to tear you apart.
And she was working on it.
And I thought, Lord, what happened?
Where did I go wrong?
All I said was good morning.
You know, and we don't really think that
God understands us.
That He's committed to us.
So we find it hard in our lives
to be committed to Him.
To accept the challenge that He lays before
us, to follow Him.
He says, I will never leave you nor
forsake you.
But He said, rest in this and know
this.
You will be tested.
Hey, you ever think about Peter?
Think of all the tests he went through.
Lord, I'll never forsake you.
Here's a cock crowed a little later on,
remember?
And he wept.
For he had denied the one who said
he would never forsake.
You know, a good old Peter.
The Lord came walking in the late hours
of the night.
Come walking up on the water and they're
out there in the boat.
You know, it was Peter that got out
of the boat.
None of the rest of them were dumb
enough to get out of the boat.
Peter got out of the boat, didn't he?
Peter had a faith, though, didn't he?
He said, Lord, bid me to come to
you.
He said, come on, Peter.
Peter stepped out.
He's just like us, isn't he?
Man, I can relate to Peter.
I'm so much like Peter.
The Lord lays a challenge before me.
And I walk out.
One step.
Two steps.
Man, dig them ways.
Look at that sky.
Hmm.
Lord, save me.
And he's there, lifts me up.
But oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to time
after time after time when we're given a
test of our faith to show our commitment
to him to not fail, to be consistent
Christians every time.
Wouldn't it be great to be a consistent
Christian?
I'm here to tell you.
We're not going to be consistent.
Not until the day we're made like him.
We're perfect.
Only then will we be perfectly consistent with
the Son of God.
But as we encounter these tests of faith,
as we encounter the tests of faith, and
we do want to stand by our allegiance
to him and our commitment to him, and
we do want to stand fast in our
priority that he is number one, number one
in our lives.
He's Lord of my life.
We want to stand by that.
But we must understand from the word of
God that we're going to be tested.
You don't believe that.
I think James gives us a very good
answer.
Let's take a look at the book of
James.
James chapter 1.
I'm sure you know, if you probably know
these verses by heart.
You've probably been through this.
I'm probably telling you something you may already
know.
But let's go over it again.
James 1 verse 2.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you
encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of
your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have
its perfect result that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing.
Lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, who gives to all
men generously and without reproach, and it will
be given to him.
But let him ask in faith without any
doubting.
For the one who doubts is like the
surf of the sea, driven and tossed by
the wind.
For let not that man expect that he
will receive anything from God, being a double
-minded man and stable in all of his
ways.
How's your stability this morning?
How's your consistency?
Basically, our problem is if we're inconsistent, we
haven't counted the cost.
We haven't taken the time to say, this
is what God expects of me.
This is what is commanded of me in
order to meet the tests of faith.
But you know, some people look at the
cost, and they have done some good arithmetic,
and they just say, I'm sorry, but it's
not worth it.
Now, we've known them by a variety of
names.
We've known them as backsliders.
We've known them as those who slipped.
Sometimes as we look at ourselves, we say,
I'd have to count myself as one who
slipped.
One who's backslidden from the word of God
and from following him.
Daily.
Daily we count the cost.
Our Lord Jesus Christ himself said it very
appropriately.
Take up your cross.
Take up the cross and follow me.
You know, those are words that have a
tendency to scare us away.
We don't like words like taking up a
cross.
Responsibility, commitment, priorities.
Those are heavy words.
Those are words that, you know, we don't
want to mess around with those.
We want to have fun in life.
But there will come a day.
There is coming a day.
And every one of us, every one of
us is here this morning.
Someday, and it may be a lot sooner
than we anticipate, we're going to stand before
him who bears the nail prints of Calvary.
Who bears the thorns, who bore the thorns
upon his head for us.
Someday we're going to stand before him.
We'll stand before him and look upon him
as Savior.
Or we're going to stand before him on
that day in the judgment.
I would trust this morning that each and
every one of you that is here knows
the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
Now, maybe this morning I've said things that
you say, well, if that's true, I don't
really think I want to be involved with
him who would put that much of a
demand upon my life.
You can look at it this way.
Either way, we're going to stand before him.
But as I look at my Christian life
and living it for his glory, I haven't
lost anything.
For I believe that he is true.
But there are those who tell me he
is not true.
That this is just another figment of man.
That man has put before us to challenge
us in a spiritual way, to fulfill something
of man.
I don't believe that for a minute.
I believe Jesus Christ is everything that the
God's Word said he is.
And to follow him, I've lost nothing from
this world.
But let's say this.
If what he says is true, if all
the words that we find in the God's
Word are true and we reject him, what
have you lost?
Everything.
You've lost it all.
You've lost everything in rejecting him.
For you see, this life is but for
a moment.
But eternity?
How long is eternity?
As long as you want to believe.
For as you examine the word eternity, it
means without end.
This life here is but a prelude.
Remember when we were singing a few moments
ago as our brother was leading us in
these songs?
Our brother over here, he says, play a
little introduction.
Remember how beautiful it sounded?
But then, the voices came together and we
sang the whole song.
The introduction is just a little tiny bit.
This life here is just a little tiny
speck of eternity.
What of eternity?
As we think of these things this morning,
there are many more.
We could go on to discuss Matthew.
We could look at others as our Lord
Jesus Christ spoke to them and said, follow
me.
But our time is up.
And as we look at these things, just
a few of the things we've discussed this
morning, and considering what it means to follow
him, the touch of eternity, the thought of
living, the thought of commitment and priority, and
the challenge to my faith.
These are but a few things that we
can see in these verses that we've looked
at this morning from God's precious word.
They are viable words.
They are important to us as children of
God.
Will you listen this morning to the word
of God?
Don't listen to me.
I'm just a man.
I'm just flesh and blood like you.
If I die, I go the way of
all men to dust.
But I have a soul that lives eternally.
And that soul will be with Jesus Christ,
my Lord and Savior.
Can you say the same this morning?
Will you think about the things that we've
considered this morning in the Christian's walk of
faith?
Think about it.
Let's pray.
Again, our Father, we come into your presence.
Thou art the living and the true God.
You who have given life to all men,
we come to you this morning and we
thank you for giving us life.
And our Father, it would be our fervent
prayer this morning that every soul that is
here can say, Thou hast given me eternal
life through Jesus Christ, your Son.
And dear Father, we pray that as we
gather this weekend and as we look into
the Word, your Word, that it will speak
to our hearts for eternity's sake.
And Lord, we would count the cost to
follow you.
But can we give too much to Him
who gave us all?
For or not we challenge to follow Him
and to live for Him day by day.
For it was Paul who said, For me
to live is Christ, to die is gain.
Father, may it be our challenge this morning
as we would look at it that nothing
is too great to give to Him.
And Lord, we thank you again for these
blessed hearts that are here this morning.
And we pray, our Father, that the words
of thyself might speak to them for eternity's
sake.
May the words of man be set aside.
Only that which is living and true may
it be heard from thee.
May it prick their hearts and their consciences
for your name's sake.
We thank you for this beautiful day.
We thank you for this time in your
court, our time in your courts.
And we commend ourselves to you for the
remainder of this day, if our Savior be
not come.
We pray in His worthy and precious name.