In Matthew chapter 5, our Lord
Jesus Christ has begun to speak to His disciples. And we find
here, beginning in verse 1, seeing the multitudes, He went up into
a mountain. And when He was set, His disciples
came unto Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ right now
is in a mountain. He's seated at God's right hand.
He's set. And what He's doing right here
on this earthly mount in this passage of Scripture, He's doing
the very same thing right now from His throne in glory through
the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel. The
same thing He's doing, He's teaching right here. He's teaching His
people in the heart. Just as real, just as sure. And
He opened His mouth and He taught them saying, Blessed, happy are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." These
are called beatitude. This is not what a believer strives
to be. This is what a believer is. This
is what the new man is. The virtue of the new man created
in righteousness and true holiness. Poor in spirit. There's nothing
in us. There's nothing in a believer
to give him any hope, any confidence, any strength in himself. All
his confidence is in Christ. He's poor in spirit. Blessed
are they that mourn. Happy are they that mourn. The
believer is happy because he mourns his sin. He mourns what he is. He mourns
that he sins against God. How does that make a man happy?
Because before God came in mercy and grace, he didn't mourn his
sins. He didn't think he had any sin. But now he knows he's
got sin. He knows God's done something
for him or he wouldn't confess it. He wouldn't go to God and
say, Lord, I need you. He's happy and he's comforted
by God. Verse 5, Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth. The meekness of the new creation,
the meekness of a man that is born in spirit is meekness towards
God. It's fear and trembling towards
God. And the man who is meek towards
God will declare the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
in the face of hell. And therefore, the enemies of
righteousness don't view it as meekness. They look at it as
boldness, arrogancy, cockiness, anything but meekness because
it don't look like the meekness that what the world calls meekness.
But the man who's meek towards God, he's going to speak the
truth. And you're going to hear the truth from him. And he inherits
the earth. He may appear to you to be nobody
and nothing because of what he believes, but he owns everything.
That man owns everything. God's given him everything freely
in Christ. Verse 6, Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness. That's what a believer does in
the Spirit. He hungers and thirsts after
righteousness because he's got none of his own. He wants Christ
his righteousness. And he hungers and thirsts after
Christ. And he'll be filled, God said. That man will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." He's
merciful, He's full of mercy towards those He comes into contact
with because He knows, were it not for the mercy of God, for
God withholding what He deserves and freely bestowing upon that
sinner His grace and giving him what he does not deserve, he'd
be lost. He'd be in total darkness without
any hope whatsoever. And He's merciful. That man has
a desire to show mercy to others, not judgment. He doesn't take
a man to the law. He doesn't take a man. He wants
that man to know where mercy is found. It's found in Christ
the Lord. Blessed are the pure in heart.
for they shall see God." That's the only ones who see God is
those whom God has given a pure heart, a new heart, a heart that
confesses what we are, a heart that confesses who He is, a pure
heart, not a heart that speaks out of this side of the mouth
and says, oh, God's gracious, He does as He pleases, He does
what He will, and then in this side of this mouth says, but
He has to wait on me to do something. He has to allow me to exercise
my will before he can do something. No. The pure heart says, I am
what I am by the grace of God. That's all. I'm a sinner. All
I got to bring to the table is sin and corruption against my
holy God. That's all I added. That's all
I've ever done since the day I was born. I was conceived in
sin. I was shaped in iniquity. I came
forth from my mother's womb speaking lies. All my days I ran straight
for hell and away from God until God just reached out and plucked
me up and said, sit down right here at my feet, boy, and listen
to me. That's the God we serve. That's
the God we serve. And blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God." The Lord's
people preach Christ Jesus, the King of Peace, the Prince of
Peace, because He is the only one who brings peace to sinners.
He's the only one that effectually works peace in the hearts of
rebels against God. Without Him, there is no peace.
He's the peacemaker. And He's the one the peacemaker
speaks of, because He's our peace. And they're children of God.
because they're children who speak of their Father. They're children who speak only
of their Father. Happy are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A believer is somebody who has this spirit about him, and because
the world does not have this spirit about them, because the
world is in darkness. Men are in darkness until God
sheds forth His light, and because that's the case, when you began
to speak of how you have nothing in you, the poorness of your
spirit, when you began to speak of mourning your sin against
God, when you began to say, I have no righteousness, I'm hungry
and thirsting after Christ my righteousness, When you begin
to speak that Christ alone can affect peace. When you begin
to say, in me dwells nothing good. All my righteousness is
Christ Jesus the Lord alone. Men will say, now wait a minute.
There's something good about you, isn't there? You did something,
didn't you? No, I didn't do anything. A man
who has not been born of God, no matter how religious he is,
no matter how zealous he is in his blind, dark ignorance, that
man is going to persecute the righteous. He is going to persecute
him for righteousness sake. The Lord says here, He says,
blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you
and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. No matter what men say about
a believer, no matter what this world says about a believer and
persecuting a believer, this is the fact. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies them.
Who can condemn one for whom Christ died? Christ justified
him. Christ took his sin upon himself
and went to the cross and laid down his life for him, shed his
life's blood that that sinner can walk away free. And he has
imparted righteousness to him in the new birth and he in spirit
worships God in truth and in spirit. And there's not anybody
that can lay anything to his charge. Nobody. Nobody. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
He said, every one of the prophets that have come before you, bearing
witness of me, preaching my word, declaring who I am, every one
of them have been persecuted. Every one of them. So if you
are persecuted for righteousness sake, for Christ's sake, for
the truth of God, You're in good company. You're in good company. You're in the company of Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. You're in the company of Isaiah
and Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Daniel. You're in the company
of all the prophets that came before. They persecuted everyone
else. Now, it comes down to verse 13. And He begins to speak a
word of very important instruction very important instruction verse
13 ye are the salt of the earth salt is a preservative salt is
an antiseptic salt is a savor We're preserved in Christ because
He has made an everlasting covenant in our heart. He salted us with
the salt of the covenant of thy God. We can't be lost. We can't
go back. We can't be lost. He won't allow
that because Christ's blood is too precious. We are preservatives
in this earth as we preach this gospel. The only thing that keeps
this world from being absolute total corruption is God's people
in this world. preaching Christ. And He put
them in this world and left them in this world for that purpose.
If we do not speak of Christ and honor Christ in all that
we do, we've lost our savor. We've lost our savor. One of
the writers said, let your speech be with grace seasoned with salt. Let me tell you what that does
not mean. That does not mean just be gracious to everybody
to the point of compromise and just try to throw in a little
mention of Christ every now and then. That's not what that means.
It means the salt and the savor of your speech is Christ who
is grace personified. Speak of Him. You want to be
gracious to somebody? Tell a dying man where the cure
is. Tell a hell-bent sinner who the
righteous one is. You want to be gracious? Tell
a man who hates God and hates you and hates himself who God
is. That's graciousness. Be always
speaking of His grace and of Him. That's the salt. Don't say
anything. Don't walk away or agree with
a lie. No savor in that. No savor in
that. Now, look at this next verse,
and this is where we're going to be this morning. Verse 14. These next few verses. Ye are
the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle
and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. And it giveth
light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine
before men that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father which is in heaven. Now, in verse 14 there, he says,
Ye are the light of the world. He's speaking to His disciples. He's speaking to ones that He
knows their heart. He gave them that heart. And
so He's speaking to those who are true believers, true disciples,
born of His grace and mercy, of His Spirit, and they know
Him. And He says, ye are. He doesn't say, you ought to
be. He doesn't say, you should be. He doesn't say, someday you
will be. He says, ye are light of the
world. You are light. It's impossible
to have Christ and not be light. It's absolutely impossible. Do
you see any darkness in this room? Because it's light. Those who have Christ indwelling
them are light. They're light because Christ
is the light. Then look here with me. He says
this, You are the light. Not a light. The light. You are the only light of the
world. You are the light. He doesn't
say you're a light. He doesn't say that... He says
you're the light. You are the light of the world.
In other words, the whole world lies in darkness and doesn't
have any light. I've sent you forth. to bear
witness of Christ the light and you're the only light this world
has. The only light this world has.
It pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. He said, Father, I pray not that you take them out of
the world. I pray that you keep them from the evil. And I pray
for those that's going to hear the Word through them. And that's
why He left you and me here. That's why we're here now, is
to set forth the light. Christ the light. The Lord says,
I am the light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That's not
a recommendation. That's not a suggestion. That's
a fact. That's a statement of fact. He that followeth after
Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
That's the assurance our Master gives us. Now, verse 14, He says,
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hidden. This light that the believer
is cannot be hidden. And the illustration is so simple. You've been driving along at
night on a dark road, on an interstate or whatever, and you come near
some mountains, and there's a city up in those mountains, and it's
all lit up. You can't hide it. There it is. You see it. Men may deny what you say. Men may deny what you show them
in these scriptures. Men may deny the truth of Christ
the light. But men know it. Men know it. Sinners know it. It can't be
hidden. This light can't be hidden. The
world sees you as believers. And you can't be hidden. If you
have light, they're going to see it. They're going to see
it. They're going to see it in a believer. The world is going
to see it because you're light. It can't be hidden. Then he says
in verse 15, Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a
bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all
that are in the house. He says not only can this light
not be hidden, but I didn't give you light for it to be hidden.
I gave you light to give light. I made you the light that you
might give light. Look over at Genesis chapter
1 with me. Genesis chapter 1. The very first thing that our
Lord created, said, let there be, once He created the heavens
and the earth, was light. It was light. And look why He
did it. Galatians 1.3. God said, let
there be light, and there was light. Now look down at verse
16. And God made two great lights. The greater light to rule the
day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars
also. Talking about the sun and the
moon. And He made the stars also. And God set them, He set them
in the firmament in the heavens. Now listen to these reasons for
light. To give light upon the earth. to rule over the day and over
the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw it and said, it's
good. It's good. The Lord Jesus Christ is described
in Scripture as the Son, S-U-N, the Son of Righteousness. He
is the Son of Righteousness who gives light upon the earth. He is the light. And Christ the
Light rules the day and He rules the night. And Christ the Light
divides the light from darkness. And those whom He has made light
give light upon the earth. And they're lesser light. They're
like the moon that reflects the light of the sun. They have no
light in them of themselves. Their light is from Christ. And
they reflect that light. It's a reflection of His light.
And they divide light from darkness. There's a separation. A division. And this is what light does.
This is the purpose of light. This is why God gave His Son. And this is why God has given
the believer light. Right here. Now, listen to the
Master's instruction, verse 16. Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
which is in heaven." Now the good works which the Lord Jesus
Christ speaks of consists of two things. Two things. Our words and our walk. Our words and our walk. We must
always speak the Gospel of Christ Jesus the Lord. If you're going
to have any savor, if you're going to shed forth light, we
must speak of Christ the Light. Of only Christ the Light. Really
and truly, anything else that's coming out of our mouths is just
corruption. It's just wasted time, is what
it is. Christ the Light. And the second
thing, brethren, we must walk in a manner which adorns the
doctrine which we speak and believe. Now, there's two reasons for
this. One is because the world hates
the gospel of Christ, hates Christ Himself, and therefore this world
looks for any fault and every fault they can find in a believer
so that they can discredit the Christ we believe and trust so
that they can just justify themselves and say, well, I don't have any
use for Him. No point in me listening to Him.
But the second reason, brethren, is because God uses helpless,
foolish wretches like you and me to manifest the power of His
glory and His grace. He said He chose the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. The wise man looks
at a sinner that God has chosen and the means God has chosen
to set forth the light, the gospel, and he says, that just don't
make any sense whatsoever. That's the dumbest thing I've
ever seen in my life. He's confounded. He just can't believe it. And
the Lord will take a man like the Apostle Paul, who is ultra-religious,
who has this pedigree that goes beyond any of the most religious
in our day, and arrest that man and put him in the dust and turn
him completely to where that man now is going forth and he
is saying this. I am determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." I've got one
hope and it's Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And he said, when
I came forth to you, I didn't do anything to defraud any man.
I didn't do anything that would allow any man to lay any charge
to me that the ministry be not blamed. That this doctrine which
I preach be not blamed. There's the two reasons. Because
anybody who saw the Apostle Paul, anybody that looked at the Apostle
Paul had to say, God did this. God did this. We knew Him before.
The believers said that about Him. God did this. We knew Him
before. This man killed folks, persecuted the saints, and stood
by and held men's coats while they killed Stephen. We know
this man. You mean now he's preaching the
Gospel? And now he's going after Christ? God uses base things,
foolish things, riches, hell-deserving sinners to manifest at the powers
His and not ours. It's His and not ours. I want
to consider the Master Himself first of all. And I want to point
out a few things with you. Turn over to John chapter 3 first. Actually, now go to John chapter
6. Our Lord Jesus Christ. I hear folks say things like
this in religion. You know, when you're preaching
to somebody that doesn't know the Lord and somebody that You
ought to use a little sensitivity and try to say things in a way
that, you know, they'll come back and hear you later and what
have you and you might not offend them and you keep them listening
for a while or whatever. Alright, listen to what our Lord
said. This is our Lord. This is His gospel. This is how
He preached the gospel. In John chapter 6, in verse 35, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I am the Bread of Life. I am the Bread of Life. He that
cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen Me and believe not. All that the Father giveth Me
shall come to Me. all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at
the last day." Now he stood face to face with sinners and said,
you've seen me and you don't come to me. You've seen me and
you haven't believed on me. Oh, they thought he was speaking
of some earthly bread and they said, we want that bread. He
said, you've seen me and you don't believe me. You've seen
the bread from heaven. You're not hungry or thirsty.
The reason you're not is because all those that the Father gives
me, they come to me. All those the Father give me,
come to me." This is the Master speaking. Turn over with me to
John chapter 8. He was speaking to some and they
began to revile him. They said, Verse 52, Then said the Jews
unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham's dead,
and the prophets. And thou sayest, If a man keep
my saying, he shall never taste of death. Abraham's dead, they
said. The prophets are all dead. And
you're saying, If a man believes me, he won't ever die. Art thou
greater than our father Abraham? which is dead, and the prophets
are dead, whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honors me,
of whom you say that He is your God, yet ye have not known Him. But I know Him. And if I should
say I know Him not, I would be a liar like unto you. But I know
Him. And keep his saying, Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
Abraham was, I am. I am. Look over at John chapter
10. John 10, verse 7. You ought to use a little honey,
though, when you preach because you can draw more flies with
honey than vinegar. The Gospel's not vinegar. The
Gospel is the honey. The Gospel is honey. It's vinegar
to a man that hates it, but it's honey to a believer. Listen to
the Lord. He spake a parable to them and
they understood not. Verse 7, John 10, 7. Then said
Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am
the door of the sheep. Now he said, I'm the bread. He
said before Abraham was, I am. I'm God. Now he says to them,
and I'm the door. I'm the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But the hireling He that is a
hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
he seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth,
and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling
fleeth because he's a hireling. He doesn't care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and I'm known
of mine. As the father knoweth me, even
so I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. and other
sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I must bring
also. And they shall hear my voice,
and there will be one foal and one shepherd. And therefore doth
my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take
it again. No man takes it from me, but
I lay it down on myself." Power to lay it down, power to take
it again. And this commandment I've received
from my Father. Well, you don't want to tell
somebody they're not a sheep. We don't have to tell somebody
they're not a sheep. But if a person doesn't come to Christ and come
only in Christ, apart from any works of righteousness we've
done, apart from any sanctifying works we've done, apart from
any works of holiness that we've done, trust in Christ, our holiness
and our righteousness alone, all those that are His come that
way. He's the door. That's how they come. That's
why He laid down His life. And He lays down His life for
the sheep. And they hear His voice and they follow Him. Look
with me at John 11. John 11 verse 25. Martha had a lot of understanding
and was saying a lot of things. She said, I know my brother,
he'll rise again in the resurrection. Listen to what the Lord said.
I am the resurrection. He said, I'm the bread. I am
before Abraham. He said, I am the door. I am
the Good Shepherd. And here He says, Martha, I am
the resurrection. I am the resurrection and I am
the life. He said, He that believeth in
Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Do you believe that?
Do you believe that? I don't think a man who stands
up and speaks about something else and wastes sinners' time
with something else believes this. Or else he'd speak about
what's needful. I just don't believe he believes
it. Coddle him, talk about him, say whatever you want too nice
about him. This is what Isaiah said, if they speak not according
to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Look with me here now at John
13 verse 13. Just one verse here. You call
me master and Lord? And you say, well, for so I am. If a man's going to be taught,
he's going to be taught by the Master. And if a man's going
to be saved out of darkness, he's going to be saved by the
Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, the King of Righteousness. Look
at John 14, 6. I just want you to see what His
Gospel is, the Master. What did He say when He came?
What was His Word? John 14, 6. Jesus said to Thomas, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him and
have seen him. Philip said, Show us the Father.
And he said, Philip, have I been so long time with you, and yet
hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. He said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am
the life. No man can come to the Father
but by me. I am the Father of one. Look
with me over at John 15.5. John 15.5. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Without me ye can
do nothing. One more, John 8, verse 12. He said, I am the bread of life. He said, before Abraham was,
I am. He said, I am the door of the
sheep. He said, I am the good shepherd. He said, I am the Son
of God. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He said, I am the Master and
Lord. He said, I am the way, the truth
and the life. He said, I am in the Father and
the Father in me. He said, I am the vine and without
me you can do nothing. And now in John 8 verse 12, Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." That's
our Master's message. That's His gospel. He spoke of
the sovereign electing grace of God who chose a people and
put them in Christ. He spoke of who He is. that He
is the bread, He's the life, He's the way, He's the truth,
He's the light, He's divine. And men can do nothing, absolutely
nothing. And He said, I am the light of
this world. What would happen if you took
away the sun? You'd die. If you took away that sun out
there, completely away, we'd die. There'd be nothing but darkness. You know what hell's described
as? Outer darkness. I don't know anything about that,
but I know it's something darker than darkness. Outer darkness. It's being totally without God. Without the light. He's the light. And then, The reason that we
have to be on guard concerning our walk is because those men
who trusted in themselves and they hated the gospel of Christ,
they tried every possible way, every single possible way to
use Christ's law, the law that He gave Himself, to say He was
preaching against that law and speaking against that law and
that He was breaking that law. That's what they tried to do.
I'm not going to go into it in great detail today. I will next
time. And for our visitors, go online and you can get it, Lord
willing, sometime here in the near future. But in the very
next verse in our text in Matthew 5, the Lord says, think not that
I came to destroy the law and the prophets. I didn't come to
destroy them. I came to fulfill them. And He said that because
that's exactly what the Pharisees were saying about Him. This man
is speaking against the law. This man is saying something
contrary to the law. This man is lawless and against
the law. And everybody that's ever stood
on their hind legs and preached the gospel of Christ has been
accused of being against the law, being an antinomian, being
a lawbreaker. Every single one of them. And he said, whoever breaks my
least commandment and teaches a man so, those that are in the
kingdom of heaven are going to view that rebel as the worst
of the worst rebels. He said, but the man that does
My commandments, even the least of them, and teaches others,
he'll be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Our Lord Jesus
Christ did all God's law. He performed it perfectly, in
perfect righteousness, in perfect obedience, in precept and penalty,
and completely satisfied, completely propitiated God for His people. He did that. And He comes forth
and teaches His people He did that. And He teaches them that
through faith you don't make void the law, you establish the
law through faith. By trusting Christ alone, you
have completely fulfilled the law of God. And God is satisfied
with you through faith in Him. Now, go forth and teach men that. Go forth and teach men that.
Teach men that the way that you fulfill the law is trusting Christ. That's what you preach. The way
you fulfill the law is trust Christ alone, who established
it in the perfection of holiness and righteousness. Trust Him
alone. Trust Him alone and teach men that. Go teach them that.
Teach them anything else, you shall in no wise enter into the
kingdom of heaven. And you'll be regarded by those
in heaven as the least of the rebels. But do those things. You believe Him. And establish
it. And go teach others. This is how you establish it.
Trust Him. Now, those men who hated the Law, though, they tried
to find every way they could entangle Him. Let me read you
something here. In one day, we read of this in Matthew 22, 15.
Then went the Pharisees, Matthew 22, 15. We might as well turn there.
We're in Matthew. Then went the Pharisees and took
counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent
out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master,
we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth."
They didn't believe that. They didn't believe that at all.
They're just trying to butter him up so they can stab him in
the back. That's all they're doing. Neither cares thou for
any, for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore,
what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute
unto Caesar or not? And if he had said, nope, don't
give tribute to Caesar, they'd have said, we got him. We got
him. We got him. But Jesus perceived their wickedness
and said, why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute
money. Pull out your penny. Who's on
it? The president. Give tribute to
who tributes? Who? Give it to him. Then verse 23, the same day came
to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection.
And they ask him a question about the resurrection. About a woman
in the resurrection. Whose husband is she going to
be? And this is what he said, verse
29, you do err. You do err. Not knowing the Scriptures,
nor the power of God. He just, he didn't pull any punches
with folks, but that's grace. That's grace, that's kindness,
that's mercy, that's giving a coat to a man that's destitute and
has no coat. That's putting bread on a man's
table that has no bread. That's mercy. And then he says here in verse
34, But when the Pharisees had heard that he put the Sadducees
to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which
was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, saying, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? And our Lord silenced him again.
And then our Lord asked him a question. Here's the question. Verse 41. Verse 41. While the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think
ye of Christ? And when he got through with
them, they didn't ask him any more questions. They didn't ask him any more
questions. You know why? He revealed to
them, as religious as you think you are, as righteous as you
think you are, as lawful as you think you are, you're wicked
because you don't know Christ and you don't trust Him. That's
what He told them. And they walked away and didn't
say another word to Him. This one walked in sinless perfection. He walked in the perfection of
holiness. There was no sin laid to His
charge. No sin could be found in Him.
There was nothing about Him that had sin in Him, within, or without. He was perfectly righteous, perfectly
holy before God. And so all they could do is make
up things falsely. And He tells His disciples, preach
this same Gospel, and walk in such a manner that all they can
do to you is just make up lies on you. We got a saying in the
South, I don't know if the folks set up here, I haven't heard
it yet, don't load their gun for them. It's just that simple. Just don't load their gun for
them. Don't do anything that could
cause this wicked world, this self-righteous religious world
to look at you and say, well, he don't keep the law. Let them
make it up all they want to. Just don't give them anything
to boast in. Don't give them anything to glory
in. That's simple. Walk as children of light. That's
simple. Now, look over with me. I got to read this one scripture
to you. John 3, 19. This is the condemnation. Light is coming
to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their
deeds were evil. Their deeds were evil. These
fellows that appeared to be the most right, their deeds were
evil. But the one who does truth, who does righteousness, comes
to the light, Christ the light, that his deeds may be wrought,
that they might be manifest, that they are wrought in God.
I said to you, speak this, that men may see your works. How are
they going to see my works if I speak? Because Christ's work
is my work. The one of whom I'm telling you
about is my work. He has performed the works, and
they're my works. What he did, I did. What he did,
you did. Trust him. He's your works. Tell
people about his works. Tell people about what he did.
Now, let's get to this last part here. Turn over with me. This is what He said to us, when
I speak to you in the dark, preach upon the housetops. Tell people,
don't hide it. Don't hide it under the bushel
of interdenominationalism. Don't hide it under the bushel
of political correctness. Don't hide it under the bushel
of trying to think that by somehow coming at things from a little
different angle, a little softer side, and taking the edge off
of things, that you can somehow make more progress than if you
just preach Christ the light. Don't hide it under a bushel.
You can't hide it. It can't be hidden. If we got
the light, preach the light and walk in light. Let me show you
this last thing. Turn over with me to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter
2. In verse 11, Dearly Beloved,
I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. That's what a believer
is in this life, is a stranger and a pilgrim. We just go on
passing verses. And notice here Peter says, I
beseech you. He didn't say, I command you.
He didn't say, this is a rule. He didn't say, this is a law.
He said, I beseech you. Because if he says this is a
law, this is a rule, I'm going to constrain you that you have
to do this. He denies everything he's saying here. That's not
a good word. That's legalistic falsehood. That's using this good word of
exhortation the same way you'd use the law of Moses. He says, I beseech you, abstain
from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. having your
conversation, your conduct honest among the Gentiles, that whereas
they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
And they're going to do that. Either when God comes in the
power of His grace and mercy and reveals Christ in them, and
visits them in the heart, and they're going to be thankful.
They're going to be thankful. No matter how they rebelled against
you, no matter how they said evil falsely against you, if
God has mercy on them, they're going to be thankful that you
preached the Gospel of Christ to them, and you were honest
with them, and that you walked in such a manner that that you
manifest what you believe. You showed them that this thing
is real. I'm not playing any kind of church
games here. This is my life. I'm not striving
to do this. This is my life. And he says,
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether
it's the king as supreme or under governors that are under him,
that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and
for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God,
that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men, and do this as free." Not because you're trying
to work out a righteousness, not because you're trying to
become more accepted with God. You don't get more accepted than
perfection in Christ Jesus the Lord. But let this be done because
you're constrained in the heart, from the heart, by the love of
God, by Christ's love for what He's done for us, that you that
you submit. You submit to the president and
to the governors and to the police officers and you're just lawful.
You're not rebelling in this world. You don't have to be.
But do it not using liberty for a cloak, an excuse to be malicious,
but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants,
you that work. Be in subjection to your masters,
with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to
those that are froward, that treat you disrespectfully, that
treat you despitefully, and say false things against you. For
this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure
grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if when
ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But
if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that you should follow His steps. He did no sin, brethren. Does
that mean I won't be able to walk in this life without any
sin? No way. Sin is mixed with everything
I do. It's all that I am. I'm a sinner. That's all I am. But he walked
perfectly without sin. But I can walk in this world
and obey the president. I can obey the laws of this land.
I can subject myself and work a good hard day's work and earn
the pay that a man is paying me at work. We're not making
these out to be righteous. This is just common decency.
Just live in this world as the Lord's free men. Not bound by
any, but doing this because you're the Lord's, because He set you
free for this reason. So they can't lay an accusation
against you. Look with me. Neither was Gael
found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not. But here's what he did. And here's the good work. But
he committed himself, his cause, to him that judgeth righteously. And he did this, his own self
bearing our sins in his own body on the tree. When he went to
that cross with the sin of his people on him, he said, Father,
into thy hands commend I my spirit. Last words out of his mouth.
I give you my spirit. I trust in you, Lord, to the
very end. If you trust Him, if you've been
born of Him and you are like, I don't care how your boss treats
you, I don't care how your government treats you, you don't have to
revile again, you don't have to raise up in protest. Why? Cast all your care on Him that
careth for you. If He went to the cross and He
laid down His life and He put away our sin, And He's raised
again for our justification. And He's seated at the right
hand of God. And He ever liveth to make intercession
for us so that we can never be lost. We'll be kept forever for
all eternity to be with Him, one with Him, to praise Him in
glory. Why am I going to try to poke
out my chest and talk back to somebody that reviles me? What's a gnat to a priest and
a king of God? To one that the Lord's made a
priest and a king unto Him. What's a mosquito swirling around
to somebody that God's made perfect righteousness? What's some man
that speaks evil against you? What is he to you? Committed to Christ. Just trust
Him. Trust Him. I want to, there's a, just go
home and read this whole thing tonight, but let me, let me turn
over here. I want to show you this last part over here in first
Peter verse, verse five. And he's talking to the elders.
Now he's talking to the preachers. Now listen to this. 1 Peter chapter
5, "...the elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an
elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you." Paul said, seeing we have received
this ministry, we faint not. We've renounced the hidden things
of dishonesty. We don't try to hide the light.
We preach the light. We don't use the Word of God
deceitfully. And that's all it is. If you
have a problem understanding what's so, you can't quite put
your finger on what a man said. He's used the Word of God deceitfully. He just used it deceitfully,
craftily. He's trying to put his hand to
the work. Because he thinks he can make better headway than
God can. He said, just feed them. Taking the oversight, not by
constraint, but willingly. Not for filthy lucre, but of
a ready mind. Not for filthy gain, just of
a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's
heritage, but being in samples to the flock. You know what would be much better
for me? If I see you doing wrong. is to teach you, to teach you. This is going to interfere between
you and Christ. This is going to, this is lust
of the flesh, it's going to war against you, and it's going to
hinder you from seeing Christ, from hearing the Gospel preached.
You need to turn away from that. And then I'll walk before you,
not doing the same thing I just told you not to do. Just be an
example. And that's simple. That's not
self-righteous. That's simple. Now, how would
it be self-righteous if I took you up and snatched you up and
brought you up here and stood you up here and said, now, we've
decided we're going to have to make an example out of you. We've
decided now that we're going to have to put you out for a
little while and let you think about what you've done. And then
we'll bring you back in and once we've examined you and you've
given us sufficient reason to think you've repented, we'll
let you back in here now. But now we're going to still
kind of watch you because now you've got a question mark above
your head. That's the law. The man that does that, he's
not feeding the sheep, he's lording over the sheep. And He's not
been an example to anybody, but how to be a devil. The Lord's
people feed them, and they show them mercy. They point them to
Him who is mercy. And they deal with them mercifully.
And the man that wants that kind of judgment, that he rejoices
in that kind of judgment, will have it. God said, he'll have
that kind of judgment, and he won't have mercy. He wants that
kind of judgment, I'll give him that kind of judgment. He'll
have it. before the thrice holy God. But
He says, don't lord it over them. Be examples to them. And when
the chief shepherd... You see, I'm not the shepherd.
I'm an under-shepherd. Christ is the chief shepherd.
I'm saying words that He said, and He's teaching His people
in the heart. He's rebuking with all authority. The Spirit of God is guiding
His people in all truth. He's doing it. He's the chief
shepherd. And He says, And when He shall appear, ye shall receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise ye younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder. All of you be subject one to
another. Be clothed with humility. For
God resisteth the proud. You know who's saying this, don't
you? They might deny you, Lord, but I won't deny you. I'll go with you to the end.
This is Peter. But Peter learned about that.
Peter was taught and he grew in grace and he said, that won't
get you anywhere. God resisted the proud. He gives
grace to the humble. And he says here, Humble yourselves
therefore into the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you
in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth
for you. Ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do
men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick,
and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your
light shine this way." Let it shine that way. They may see
your good works. There's a big difference between
may see and to be seen. The Lord said, you pray long
prayers to be seen of me. You pray in the streets to be
seen of men. You wear a certain dress and do all these things
to be seen of men. He said, be light that men may
see. And glorify your Father which
is in heaven. If they're looking at me and
I'm boasting about something I've done, my Father's not glorified. But if they're looking at Christ
and resting in Christ and trusting in Christ alone, my Father's
glorified. My father's glorified. You know
what most people say to me that come to this place? This is a
great, great compliment. I won't give this to you. I'm
thankful for this. Most everybody that has come
here and heard the gospel preached and has hung around a few times
and heard the gospel preached in this place, you know what?
And they come out of religion. You know what they always make
a comment about? You folks don't operate like
other churches do. You don't make me walk out of
here feeling like there's something I need to be doing or God's going
to get me. You preach Christ to me. And you deal with me in mercy. That's a compliment. That's a
great compliment. And that's a great token of the
grace of God. That's what it is. He's the one
that receives the glory. He's the one that gets all the
glory for the great things He's done to make a people want to
just speak of Him and walk in a manner that adorns the doctrine
we believe. And He said, And in doing so,
you glorify your Father which is in heaven. That's what He
did. And that's what you do by trusting
Him. Okay. We'll have a song now.