Be Sure — Bill McLeod

Good morning. Nice morning. We've got more snow in Winnipeg than you've got here. We've got about four inches and a big blow at the time. I have to begin with a confession. I won't be preaching on Thanksgiving.

Now, I don't know who to blame but God. I try and do what he tells me to do and when he tells me, and so I'll be speaking on something else. I made a study one time of themes in the Bible and discovered, I found, about 80 different themes that we should be preaching on, thinking about, studying.

The Breadth of Biblical Themes and Thanksgiving

Not four or five but 80 and maybe, I'm sure I missed some, that could be closer to a hundred themes in the Bible. It may be unfortunate that we celebrate Christmas just once a year, the coming of Christ, the incarnation, God in Christ, reconciling the world.

And then Easter, the resurrection once a year, that isn't right either. It's good to have it but it's a very, as you know, common theme in the Word of God. However, I'll give you a thought from Colossians 2 about Thanksgiving.

As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. That will keep us busy for a whole year, right?

Abounding therein with thanksgiving. I should mention my wife will be here today but she's been not well lately. A couple of nights ago she almost passed out, it seems. She was having terrible pain in her legs and we prayed and the pain disappeared.

But the next morning she had the same kind of pain in her shoulder and so she wasn't feeling too good this morning. If you think of her, pray for her. You know, she never complains, never complains. She praises the Lord but she never complains.

Giving to the Poor as Lending to God

I'm taking a text found in Numbers 32. It says, be sure your sin will find you out. That's not what I'm preaching on. But I'm taking the first two words only, be sure. There are things we can be positively sure about.

And we need to know what they are because there's more than just one or two. There are many things that we Christians can be positively sure about. Here's one. He that has pity on the poor lends to the Lord and that which he has given God will repay again.

Whenever I repeat that I usually say with interest. So if you have pity on the poor, you're lending to God. And what you have given, God will repay again. So it really shouldn't matter how much he asks you to give, should it?

Well people say, well in our culture we, there's very few people that need help. Well you know what you could do is direct such giving to missionaries. And most of them are living on a wage much less than you would get with an ordinary job here in Canada.

But anyway, you can be sure, positive, you give to help someone else, you'll be helped by God. Proverbs 28, 27 says, he that gives to the poor shall not lack. You won't lack if you're giving to the poor.

There's something, you know, there's a great emphasis on the poor in the Bible. When Paul met in Galatians chapter 2 with the leaders of the Jewish church in Jerusalem, one of the things they agreed upon together, he would go to the Gentiles and the others would go to the Jews.

But Paul said, they wanted me to remember the poor. He said, I was very forward to do that. So if you remember the poor, if you give to the poor, you'll not lack yourself. It says the righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked doesn't want to hear about it.

He doesn't want to be giving his money away. So he never thinks about the poor. He may be very wealthy, but he never thinks about that. That is giving to the poor. He doesn't want to know about it. The good virtues, 1 Proverbs 31, she stretches out her hand to the poor.

That's part of life and should be part of your life and mine. In considering, you may have knowledge of somebody that has a financial need and you can meet it. Now remember, if you do it, you're going to get it back.

But that's not the reason you give it. That's God's side, God's business. Ephesians 6 says a great thought. Whatsoever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be a bond or free, a slave or a free man.

Do something good. I mean, all of these verses are saying the same thing, right? Whatever good thing you do. That's Ephesians 6 saying. Whatever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of the Lord.

So Colossians 3 .23 says, whatever you do, do it heartily. Ask to the Lord and not to men. Whatever job you have, do it heartily. Wasn't it Ruth Graham used to say that she had a sign over the place where she washed the dishes?

And the sign said, divine worship conducted here three times a day. Washing dishes. Whatever you do, do it heartily. Heartily. Ask to the Lord. So when you're assisting, you're helping someone else. What you're doing, you're doing to the Lord.

Good Works as the Fruit of Salvation

If you remember Matthew 25, it distinctly puts us into two camps, the sheep and the goats. And the sheep are the people who help others in need. I heard a preacher, not a preacher, a politician. And he was saying the other day that whatever this salvation thing is, it only happens to those who help other people.

This, of course, is not right. He didn't know any better. But at least he was aware of the fact there was such a thing as salvation. So that was a good start. These are things you can be sure about. Be sure.

Matthew 10, 42, if you give a cup of cold water, even to a child, you won't lose. You won't lose a reward. A cup of cold water, anything good, kind that you do, God is in it. It's not how we get saved.

It's what we do because we are saved. If you recall, Paul said that we should be careful, those who believe in God, should be careful to maintain good works. James said, you show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works.

Keep that in mind. And that verse in Acts 10, I love it. I don't know why, but it hit me with a lot of power, oh, a month or so ago. Acts 10, 38, Jesus Christ, he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.

I never really thought of it that way. Jesus going about doing good. I guess you could add this thought. He went about looking for people that he could help. And everywhere he went, there were people that needed help.

Blind people, people with leprosy, people born deformed, blind people, dumb people, people with demons. He went around looking for people he could help. So he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.

You can be sure you're doing the right thing if you're doing what he did. We should always be aware of the fact that God wants to help others through us. And so, as you walk around, don't be afraid to look around.

Some of us won't, we never look anywhere just for fear. There might be somebody that I can help, but I'm busy. I've got a plan. I can't help this person. I've got to get on my way. So we forget about it.

That isn't right. Follow the example of Christ. When the disciples of Matthew 19, they asked Jesus what they would have for following him. And he said, well, if you have left houses or lands or wife or parents or brother or sister, for my sake, you receive a hundredfold.

Now, I didn't mean to have a hundred wives. Maybe Solomon took that literally, I don't know. But of course, as you walk this way with a friendly, loving heart, you'll meet people all over the country that are kind to you.

And so, that was the answer that Jesus gave them. A hundredfold. Can you be sure about it? Of course you can. Anything God said, you can be positive, sure, will take place. Luke 6, 38. Give, and it shall be given unto you.

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For the same measure that you give, it shall be measured to you again. Is that a promise? Yes. Is it a sure thing?

Yes. It's very sure. And we need to build on promises of this kind. Matter of fact, in the context there in Luke 6, it says, you're to help people pray for those who persecute you, love those who hate you.

And he says, Len, hoping for nothing. What? He didn't say, Len, at eight percent. No. He said, Len, hoping for nothing. And he points out in the context. This is how God is. He blesses the wicked man as well as the good man.

He sends rain on the unjust farmer's field as well as on the just farmer's field. So the Lord is good to all. Remember that verse. He's referring to the days before Christ came. Nevertheless, God, he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave rain and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

So we're to follow the example he's given us. The wicked, he blesses them in many ways. Their portion is mainly in this life. Ours is mainly in the next life. But he blesses all. Len, I say again, hoping for nothing.

Blessing Those Who Oppose You

Peter talks about us not making the mistake of cursing those who curse us and hating those who hate us. He says, he uses the phrase, contrary-wise blessing. If they curse you, bless them. If they steal from you, give them something.

If they ask you to walk a mile, go two miles. If they ask for your coat, give them your coat too. Contrary-wise blessing, because he says, he says this, you'll receive a blessing. If you're contrary-wise blessed, you can be sure you'll receive a blessing from God.

And as Christians, we need to know that. And here's a thought, Proverbs 17. A merry heart does good, like a medicine. You know what? It doesn't cost anything and it doesn't require a prescription from a doctor.

A merry heart does good. You mean it helps like, yes, it helps like medicine. That's what he's saying. I read of a hospital in the States. They decided to try a new program. So they got the whole staff together, everybody, custodians, doctors, nurses, everybody.

And they said, we're embarking on a new program. No matter where you are, if you're with a patient, always be happy. Smile and say something nice to them. And they held everybody to it. We're serious about this.

And what happened? They couldn't believe it. People were being discharged from the hospital at double the rate they had been discharged before. And you know there was a connection. So, a merry heart has a continual feast, really.

It does good, like a medicine. You know, sometimes you can help people, as I have over the years. I think of cases where people take a half an hour, maybe even an hour, to pour out their woes. And you don't say a word.

And all of a sudden a person will stop and say, oh, you helped me so much. You haven't done anything but smile. They sense your love. But a merry heart. You know this thing of when people get together and they have what we call an organ recital.

All about the gallbladder operation or the liver operation or the lung. They call them organ recitals. You should never get involved in that. Do you remember the name of the guy in the Bible that Paul talked about?

He was very sorry because the people had heard he'd been sick. Why would he be sorry? I don't really know. I think it must have been from his viewpoint, all these poor people, they heard I was sick and they've been praying for me and spending time on me and they shouldn't have been.

I wish you'd never heard. That's quite different from an organ recital, right? Epiphanides was his name. I don't know what his name meant. 2 Corinthians 1 .11. Paul said, you also helping together by prayer for us.

Helping together by prayer. And then Paul gives a list in Romans 16 of people he called them my helpers in Christ Jesus. He did those amazing things he did because he had hundreds and probably eventually thousands of helpers.

So, you also helping together by prayer. Do all you can in prayer. Remember, my house, he said, shall be called a house of prayer for all people. Usually that's the last thing. It really should be the first thing.

David's Mercy Toward Saul

You know, David, when he was a fugitive from Saul, seven years hiding in the wilderness, Saul coming after him, sometimes with several thousand men. On two separate occasions, he could have murdered Saul with no danger to himself, but he never took advantage of it.

And there was a reason, as we'll find out. In one case, he was hiding in a cave and Saul came into the cave by himself and David's men urged him, knock him out, knock him out. This is it. And he wouldn't.

Another occasion, he saw where Saul lay down asleep in an open field and where the big guy was laying beside him and so on. And there was a spear in the ground. They got close enough and Abishai, one of Joab's brothers, he wanted to take the spear and smite Saul to the ground with it.

And David wouldn't allow this to happen. No, no, he said, he's an owner of the Lord. We can't touch him. His day will come. God will take care of him. Did it have any lasting effect? Yes, it did. Because when David was made king, the northern kingdom of Saul, where Saul had been king, the northern kingdom, ten tribes, they wouldn't have been so eager as they were to make Saul or David their king.

Not just the two southern tribes, Jude and Benjamin. They appreciated, they knew. And they knew that David was an honest person and a kind person. And so his treatment of Saul paid big dividends in his life.

Sin's Certain Consequences

But all these things, I guess we listed ten or twelve here, are things that you can be sure will happen if you do the right thing. Then on the negative side, when Adam and Eve ate of the tree, they had no idea what their consequences would be, except they had been warned that they would die if they ate of the tree.

Maybe they didn't understand what death was. I don't know. It was a heavy price. The ground was cursed. And that curse, to some extent, was removed through Noah at that time. We're told that. They didn't know.

They did it and they paid that price. Then Cain, when he murdered his brother, I guess because he hated him, he thought he'd never be caught. But God said to him, your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

Now he said, I'm going to put a special curse on you on the ground. So he had to work under a double curse, more than the rest of the world had to work under. They had thorns and thistles and sweat, we're told.

But Cain had more than that. And he became a fugitive and a vagabond, an unwanted person. Nobody would want to be with him. Consequences. Be sure when you do evil, and especially evil as monstrous as this, to kill your own brother.

I was talking not long ago on the phone with some of the men in Brandon. And when I asked one what the trial was all about, he said, I killed three people. And he's such a nice looking person, now professing salvation.

Only God can be sure about that. But there are terrible consequences. We can be sure on the negative side. Be sure your son will find you out number 32. He said that to three tribes who were thinking of sort of separating to the other side of the Jordan River.

A country that needed cattle or was great for cattle, and they had much cattle. But they were not trying to break with the others as was pointed out. But they were warned, be sure if you do this, your sin will find you out.

Proverbs 17, Whoso rewards evil for good, evil will never leave his house. If somebody does you something good, and you respond by doing something evil, it says, and you can be sure about it, evil will never leave your house.

That's what God has said. You know, David, 2 Samuel, he had a man murdered. It was a contract murder through Joab. And then he committed adultery. Actually, he did that first. And then because the woman became pregnant, he decided to get her husband killed, and so he did.

And you know, when Nathan came and just brought his sin before him, you are the man. He also said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin. You will not die. But in Genesis, we were told after the flood, Whoso sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.

For in the image of God, he made man. How did David get off the hook? Well, you know, he really didn't. He didn't die. But four of his sons died. Three of them violently. That was the price he paid. It might have been easier for him to have died.

But that's how God ordered that particular matter. Be sure you do something evil, evil will come back unto you. Proverbs 5, 22, His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he'll be held with the cord of his own sins.

There's something about sin that it kind of binds us up. It ties us. It makes us captive. And there's many references of that kind in the Old Testament. Their own doings have beset them about in Hosea.

Several verses in Hosea. He will remember the iniquity of his people and visit their sins. God doesn't forget. And if you want to know how sure such a thing as this is, just read the story of Israel in the Old Testament Scripture.

The awful times they went through again and again. And as Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2, the wrath, that is the wrath of God, has come upon them to the uttermost. And the phrase to the uttermost means in point of time.

Because they persecuted and killed their prophets and then killed their Messiah. And then began persecuting those who believed in the Messiah. Finally in AD 70, the final judgment of God came on them.

Thousands of them died. And thousands were taken away. Scattered around the world. Which God did. Zechariah chapter 7. It's spelled out in great deal there. They hardened their hearts against God. And you can be sure if you harden your heart against God for any reason, then in the long run, you're going to run into serious problems.

Three things happened to Israel at that time. God said, I cried and they never heard. So when they cry, I won't hear. If I don't listen to God when He's speaking to me, He will not listen to me when I'm speaking to Him.

And you can be sure about it. I mean, it's made so clear. And then they were scattered around the world, it says, in Zechariah 7. And finally, the land of Israel, a pleasant land, was made desolate. And to a large extent, it still is today.

Hosea 9 .7 speaks about days of recompense. A sinner may do evil a hundred times and his days be prolonged. Right? That's what it says in Ecclesiastes. Yes, a person can be a hundred years old. I think I've met one or two like that.

The scoff at the idea of God. So, longevity doesn't mean God is particularly blessing you. Though a sinner do evil a hundred times and his days be prolonged, yet surely, there's that word again, surely I know there'll be well with those that serve God.

So, don't mistake or look at something in the wrong light. Our iniquities, Jeremiah 14 .7, our iniquities testify against us. So, there's somebody testifying against us every time we sin. Keep that in mind.

Be sure it's happening, God said it would. You know, Joab, he was the head man in Israel, a great warrior. Nobody would ever cross swords with him. He was the one that got into Jebus, the Jebusites, which became Jerusalem.

And on a couple of occasions, he did very evil things. Abner, who was the captain of the host in the northern kingdom of Israel, had come down to see David. And they were going to work out a program where David would be the king of all twelve tribes and then Abner would be the captain of the host and Joab would be out.

And he heard about it. And he sent messengers after Abner. And he followed the messengers and then he met Abner by a well. And it says, he went to speak peaceably to him and took a sword and killed him on the spot.

Very evil thing. On another occasion, David made Amasa captain of the host in Joab's place. And Joab didn't like that either. So he went to see Amasa. As he was walking towards him, his sword fell out of its sheath on the ground.

So he picks his sword up, apparently with his left hand, as the story makes it quite clear. But he kept the sword in his hand and Amasa paid no attention to it. He saw that it was an accident. I don't think it was an accident at all.

When he got there, he took Amasa by the beard and said, my brother, are you healthy? Then he gave him the sword right through his middle, killed him on the spot. So Joab was a very evil, hard-hearted person.

How did he die? Well, be sure, your son will find you out. He died on a sword. He was old now. He couldn't handle himself too well physically. There was no point in defending himself. And he died on a sword.

He could have died in other ways. But there's a day of recompense. It may not happen today. It may not happen a month down the road or twenty years down the road. But it will happen. There's always a recompense for sin unless it is forgiven.

Recompense for Jezebel, Hitler, and Solomon

Do you remember Jezebel, Ahab's wife? A very, very evil person and apparently a beautiful gal also. And she was, the Bible speaks of a witchcraft and whoredom and murder, all associated with her name.

And her husband Ahab, it says she incited him. She stirred him up to do evil. How did she die? Not in her plans. A man called Jehu was going through the country looking for people to kill who were bad people.

And she looked out of the window. Well, she heard him come and she fixed up her hair and painted her face and stuck her face out the window and said something to Jehu. She'd always been able to swing men any way she wanted.

Well, they feared her. And when he saw her looking out the window, Jehu said, Who's on my side? And a couple of eunuchs looked out and he said, Throw her down. And they grabbed this evil woman and threw her down.

Her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses. Jehu had several men with him. That's how she died. She died as she lived. She was the one that gave her husband a plan to have Nabal murdered, if you remember.

That was only part of it. Very, very evil person. Hitler didn't die a happy person, did he? Of course not. He died as he lived. And remember, be sure, if you do good, you'll be blessed. If you do evil, you'll be cursed.

Only the day of reckoning may not be close. We have to keep that in mind. You know, Solomon, the wisest person that ever lived. Very wealthy. Probably nobody as wealthy as he in his day. But he had a thousand wives altogether.

Eight hundred of them were princesses. He knew the law of God said kings were not to multiply horses, chariots, money, silver or gold, or wives. He disobeyed that and got away with it for his life. But you know, his wives turned his heart away.

He must have forgotten wise man he was when he began worshipping idols that there would be some bad recompense from God to him. When he died, he had three men that God raised up in his own country to make it unpleasant for him in his latter days.

But he died. But his son Rehoboam had such a bad example from his father Solomon that he blew the whole thing. Just became king and lost ten of the twelve tribes. So it didn't come on Solomon directly but on his progeny, on his family.

And sometimes the recompense comes on our family indirectly on ourselves. The Bible says they that forsake the law praise the wicked. Those that keep the law contend with the wicked. Okay? You get it?

You forsake the law of God, you're praising the wicked. They're all doing that. You're lining up with the wicked. No, keep the law of God, the word of God. Then you're contending with them. You give thanks over food in a restaurant, you see some people making fun of it.

They wouldn't do that. They think your students are doing that. Let them think what they will. You're contending with the wicked when you do that. And this must be kept in mind. It's another sure thing.

There's a verse in Isaiah 33. I'd like to just read it. It's a very important verse along this line. It's a little hard to memorize it all. Okay. Woe to thee that spoils and you are not spoiled. You deal treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with you.

When you shall stop spoiling, you will be spoiled. And when you shall make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you. What's he talking about? Well, you can spoil others, rob others.

You can deal treacherously with others. And then maybe at some point in your life you say to yourself, that's not really a good deal. I'm going to stop doing that. So you stop doing that. And then what happens?

After you stop doing it, then others will start spoiling you and dealing treacherously with you. Really? That's what it says. I think there's something not mentioned here that we gather from the Word of God in other places.

For example, if you've been spoiling others, robbing others, dealing treacherously, you can stop doing that. But when you stop doing it, you should make things right with the people you spoil and the people you dealt with treacherously.

If you don't do that, then the second half of this thought will come on you. Others will spoil you. I've heard of cases like that where people live... I think one man, he was a very evil man for years.

He'd been stealing. But he became a Christian. I guess he never thought of making right what he'd made wrong. He didn't think he had to, I suppose. So he left it alone. Then he got robbed. Somebody got a hold of his stuff and robbed him.

And God really gave him a hard time. There's a man in Winnipeg I talked with. He came for counseling. He'd been selling drugs for years, made thousands of dollars. I asked him what he did with the money he made.

Oh, he said, I have it in the bank. But I said, that's dirty money. That's not your money. You should give that away to a mission or something. Have you ever let the police know about it? No, he hasn't.

He didn't like the kind of counseling I gave him. And he walked away angry. He said, I earned it. But you earned it with blood money. You helped to send other people to hell the way you lived in those days.

Now, he didn't want to do anything along those lines. But you know as well as I do. Restitution, if you don't believe in it, read Exodus chapter 22 and there are other places besides. But restitution is called for on ourselves.

Final Judgment and Christ's Atoning Work

Well, some men's sins are open beforehand, going before the judgment. And some men, they follow after, after they're dead. Things come to light that some people were doing. And you know, entirely apart from that, in the great judgment day, the Bible says, there's time there for every purpose and for every work.

Nobody's going anywhere. Nobody has other plans. The dead, small and great, it says, will stand before God and will all be judged according to the book of God. Be sure of that. We're told that. But Christ came to take care of that for us.

Christ also has once, it means once and for all, suffered for sins, the just, for the unjust. We are the unjust. That He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

The just, He's called that. The just one. No sin in Christ at any time, night or day. I think at least six places in the New Testament were told that Christ lived without sin. That's why He's called the just one.

He suffered for you. He suffered for me. And our sins will not be remembered because of Calvary. Christ loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. So we read in Revelation chapter 1. They're gone.

There's a little chorus. God has blotted them out. I'm happy and glad and free. God has blotted them out. I'll turn to Isaiah and sing. Chapter 22. Is that right? 33 and 4. I'm not sure about the figure.

He has blotted them out. And now I can shout. So that means me. God has blotted our sins out. Well, being sure about salvation, we often meet with people who are not sure. They're struggling. I hear things like this.

Assurance of Salvation and True Conversion

I went forward in a big meeting. Thousands of people. I went forward and they prayed over me. Am I a Christian? It's really kind of shocking when somebody asks you that question. Am I a Christian? But then my own daughter Joanna, you know, when she went to school, to high school, before she was a Christian, well, she had professed to be one and she had been baptized and joined the church.

Went to school with a Bible on top of her textbooks and one of the teachers told us they were so happy to have her in the school because if there's any hanky-panky going on and she finds out, this teacher told my wife one night, she blows the lid off.

Then revival came. And Joanna came one day and said, Daddy, I want to be saved. I said, your baptism? Oh no, Daddy. She said, I've never known God. I've never known Him. And I led her to Christ in my office and she was re-baptized.

So she said, she put it this way, I've always known the way. I've known the language. But I've never known the Lord. That was the problem. Be sure about your salvation. How can we be sure? By simply doing what God said we should do.

Paul said, he was neatly summing up in a certain way, his ministry. Two things. He said he preached repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. It's always in that order. When they asked Peter, what should we do?

Men and brethren, what should we do? Repent. That's the first word. And then be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. If you do what God is asking you to do, repent and believe. Not believe and then repent some years later.

It's always in that order. Repent and believe. Could you find a clearer place than Revelation 3, 19 and 20? It actually begins with repentance, you know. As many as I love, I revoke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent.

And then he says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. I've heard preachers say that's the door of the church. He's not talking to individuals. He's talking to churches. That isn't true. Because he goes on to say, If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will fellowship with him and he with me.

So, sure, yes. Just do it. Repent. Turn away from your sins. Ask God to forgive you for the wickedness of your heart. And then invite Christ to come in. Now remember, he didn't say, If you open the door of your heart to me, I'll make you feel happy.

He didn't say that. He just said, I will come in. So it's a faith matter. By faith we're saved. By grace through faith we're saved. Not how you feel. God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're God's child.

Over in Romans 8 and again in 1 John 5. He that believes in the Son has a witness in himself. Now, if you don't have a witness, you have to look into this. You can be sure and considering the consequences, if I'm not really right with God, I must be sure.