Good evening. Let's all stand
together and sing hymn number 334. 334. Be Thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart, Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day
or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my
true word, I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father, I Thy true
son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee worn. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise Thou mine inheritance, now and always Thou and Thou
only, first in my heart I'm King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art
I'm King of Heaven, my victory won May I reach Heaven's joys,
O bright Heaven's sun Be seated, and then we'll sing hymn number
357. 357, we'll sing the first, second,
fourth, and fifth. Dearer, my God, to Thee, dearer
to Thee. Ye know in me a cross that raised
me. O my soul shall be dearer, my
God, to Thee, dearer, my God, to Thee, dearer to Thee. Oh, like the wanderer, the sun
gone down. Darkness be over me, I rest a
stone. Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer,
my God, to Thee, nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee. Here with my waking thoughts,
bright with Thy face, out of my stony graves, let all I raise. So by my woes to Thee, Dearer,
my God, to Thee, Dearer, my God, to Thee, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave moon and stars for God upward
I fly. Still all my song shall be nearer,
my God, to Thee. Good evening, can we turn to Isaiah
chapter 1? Isaiah chapter 1. The vision
of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem
in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear,
O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought
up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his
owner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel does not know,
my people does not consider. All sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors.
They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One
of Israel into anger. They are gone away backward.
Why should you be stricken anymore? You revolt more and more. The
whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of
the foot, Even to the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire.
Your land, strangers devoured it in your presence, and it is
desolate as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left
as a cottage in a vineyard as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,
as besieged city. Except the Lord of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been a Sodom and
we should have been likened to Gomorrah. Hear the word of the
Lord, ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our
God, ye people of Gomorrah. What purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt
offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight
not in the blood of bullocks or lambs or of he-goats. When
you come to appear before me, who hath required this at your
hand to tread in my courts? Bring no more vain oblations,
incenses, and abomination unto me. The new moons and Sabbaths,
the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with. It is iniquity, even
the solemn meeting Your new moons and your appointed feast, my
soul hateth. They are a trouble unto me. I
am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your
hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when you make
my prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Wash ye, make ye clean, put away the evil of your doings from
before mine eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do
well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow. Come now and let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. If you be willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured with the sword. for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it. How is it the faithful city become
an harlot? It was full of judgment, righteousness
lodged in it, but now murderers. Thy silver has become dross,
thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious and
companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth
after rewards. They judge not the fatherless,
neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. And therefore,
say it, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. I will ease me of my adversaries
and avenge me of my enemies, and I will turn my hand upon
the and purely purge away that draws and take away all of our
team. And I will restore that judges
is at the first that counselors is at the beginning. Afterward,
there shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful
city, Thine shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts
with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors
and the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord
shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of
the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for
the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall seek, for ye shall
be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no
water. And strong shall be his toe, and the maker of it as a
spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench
them. Our Lord and our God, we thank
you for this day, Lord. We thank you for this message
that you gave us this morning. Lord, we thank you for a place
for us to come and hear the truth, to hear what God says. Lord, we thank you for our pastor
and for all that he does. We appreciate him, Lord, and
we thank you so much. Lord, we want to give you praise
and honor and glory, Lord. We pray for mercy, grace, and
pity from you. Lord, we thank you so much. We
ask that you'd be with our families that don't know you, Lord. We
ask that it be your will that you break in on them, Lord, and
give them a need for you. Lord, we thank you for all that
you are. And we ask all these things in
Christ's holy name. Amen. Him number 290 90. you Be still, my soul, the Lord is
on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain. Leave to thy God to order and
provide. In every change, ye faithful
will remain. Peace to my soul, my best, my
heavenly friend, Through thorny ways, peace to a joyful end. Be still my soul, I got a thundertale
To guide the future as he has the past I hope I contradicts
with nothing shame All now mysterious shall be proven lies. Be still, my soul, the waves
and breeze still blow. His voice to move him while he
dwelt below. Be still, my soul, the hour is
hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord When disappointment,
grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow for God, love's purest joy, Be still, my soul, when changing
tears are flashed. All safe and blessed, we shall
meet at last. Heard with me to Hebrews chapter
13. Hebrews chapter 13. I'm going to read. Verse 7 through 15. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines, where it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace, not with meats which have not profited
them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar where
they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. The bodies
of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by
the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore,
Jesus also that he might sanctify the people, with his own blood,
suffered without the gate. Let us go forth, therefore, unto
him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we have
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually. That is the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Now, I want to get
my subject out of verse 9, where it says, Be not carried about
with diverse and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace. I want to talk about a good thing,
a good thing, a good thing. You know, the apostle is exhorting
the Hebrew Christians here. These were Jewish people that
became believers. God saved him by grace and taught
him. And here in this Hebrew, in chapter
13, he exhorts them. Many wonderful and blessed truths. Like in verse one, look what
it says. Let brotherly love continue. James read tonight about brotherly
love. A man knows God, he loves his
brother. And oh my, let brotherly love
continue. That's a good thing, ain't it?
Can we love too much? Can we be committed to one another
too much? And then look what it says in
verse three. Remember, remember them that are in bonds, those
who are having heartaches, having troubles, and that's bound with
them and will suffer adversity. Troubles, heartaches, things
that's against them. You know, and you suffer, remember
them that is bound as you, and you be bound with them. Whatever
they're going through, you identify with them. Paul said in one place,
would weep with those that weep, mourn with those who were mourned,
and rejoice with them that rejoice. And that's what we do, and look
what he goes on to say. They suffer adversity, things
that's so against them. And you identify with them as
being yourselves also in the body with them, with what they're
going through. You identify with them. And that's
what he's talking about. And that's a good thing. That's
a good thing to have compassion. It's a good thing to be sympathetic.
It's a good thing because we're all one in Christ. We're all
one in Christ. And then down in verse five,
look what he said. Let your conversation, That word
conversation means your manner of life. It means your character,
your conduct. And he said, let your conversation,
your manner of life be without covetousness. Don't go around
saying, I want this, I want that, I need this, I need that. I'd
love to have this. I'd love to have that. I'd love
to have what they've got. Boy, I wish I had what they did. And go on and on and on like
I said. Don't let your conversation, don't let your manner of life,
don't do that. Don't do that. Huh? Oh, let your character and
conduct be without covetousness. Why? Because look at what he
said, be content with such things as you have. Most of us could clean out our
house and get rid of half the stuff we got if we just take
the time to do it. That's a fact. But that's why
I say be content with such things as you have. And this is the
motive, this is the reason for it. For He has said, God has
said, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.
Your things that you covet will. The things that you have in time
will. Your marriages will, your everything. He said, you be content. Just be content. Be content. And oh my, I think contentment
is one of the most blessed things God can give a person in this
world. Contentment. What do you need? Nothing. Why
you want nothing? What would you like to have?
I got everything. And that's what he says, don't
be content because this is what God promised you. He said, I'll
never leave you. I will never ever leave you.
You don't need no more than me. I will never leave you, and I
will never, never, no, never, never, never forsake you. Huh? That's enough, ain't it? That's a good thing. That's a
good thing. That's a good thing. And, oh,
the good thing that I particularly want us to see and understand
down here in verse 9 is this. Be not cared about with divers
and strange doctrine for it is a good thing That the heart be
established with grace Not with meats not with your diet and
what you can eat and what you can't eat Which have not profited
them that have been occupied therein It's a good thing that
the heart be established with grace God is a god of peace God
is a god of Decency God's a God of order. He's not the author
of Confucius and here he instructs us to have our hearts established
Established with grace and then how it's accomplished how it's
accomplished and knowing my own self and knowing my own What
goes on with me I know that I want to be established in the grace
of God my heart established in it And oh my, and then he goes
back up here and this is how you get your heart established.
Okay, starting in verse seven. He said, remember them. And you
know, he doesn't talk about remember people two times, those that
are in affliction and remember them that have the rule over
you, which has spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith
follow considering the end of their conversation. Now, I want
you to look in the margin where it says rule, it says, are the
guides. They are the guides. Now, I'll
establish first and foremost that God doesn't call his pastors
or preachers to be Lord over God's heritage. He never called
us to do that. He called us to feed the sheep,
to guide the sheep under, you know, and take the Word of God
and use the Word of God to teach and instruct the Lord's people.
But when he says, remember them, remember them that are guides,
Remember this, remember their calling. No preacher calls himself. No preacher calls himself. And
I tell anybody, and a lot of old preachers that's gone on
now, they'll tell you, if you can keep a man out of the ministry,
keep him out of it. And there's a lot of fellas that
ought to be out of the ministry. But oh my, remember their calling. This calling comes from God.
It don't come from the church. It don't come from the elders.
It doesn't come from the deacons. And remember their office. It's
the office that people respect. It's the office. And remember
his responsibility. His responsibility. Anybody here
would like to take the responsibility to get up here and deal with
this congregation three times a week? What a responsibility
I have. have responsibility to everybody
that I preach to. What a responsibility. That's why Paul said, who is
sufficient for these things? Who is? Who's sufficient for
these things? Where do we get the ability? How can anybody? Paul said, the care of the church
has come upon me. And no man cares for the things
of Christ. Nobody, like I do, nobody. And
now the responsibilities, remember their calling, remember their
office, their responsibility. And when it talks about ruling
over you, that means being your guides. But in any society, any
society, there has to be rule. There has to be rule. There has
to be guides. There has to be government. And
without that, you'd have anarchy. You'd have everybody doing what
they wanted to do. You ever been in services where
they say, anybody got anything they want to say before they
leave tonight? Or before we start the service?
Next thing you know, you got six or seven people up talking,
and they're all trying to outdo one another. That'd be anarchy. The church, that's the people
taking over the congregation. And oh my. That'd be confusion. Oh, what
confusion that would be. Huh? You know, that's what's so wonderful
about the gospel. If people sat and reverenced
God and listened to the gospel, then, oh, my, that would be without
some kind of a rule, without some kind of God, without some
government, that'd just be anarchy. Every man would do that which
is right in his own eyes. And that's exactly what people
would do. I'd do what that's right in my own eyes. Brother
David Edmondson, Pastor David Edmondson was talking about somebody
that he knew and that they had already joined three different
churches. Whenever they went someplace, they didn't like what
they were saying or what they was doing or how things was going
on, they went to another one. And when they got tired of that
one, didn't like what was being said, they went to another one.
When you get to where somebody's telling you the truth, you don't
go no place else. If I was preaching my opinion
and my convictions, I'd understand that. But look what else he goes
on to say here now. Remember them, what he says here
now. We have spoken unto you the word
of God. See, that's the difference. They speak the word of God. That's
what a preacher does. That's what this guide does.
That's what these rulers, that's what the ruler does. That's what
he does. He speaks unto you the word of
God. And that's the only way that they can possibly ever rule
over a congregation in any way, take the responsibility, is guide
them by what? The Word. Declaring the Word,
teaching the Word, instructing people from God's Word. I know
I've mentioned this before. Somebody come to Bruce Crabtree
and asked him, said, listen, do you do counseling? He says,
no, I don't. Said, if I do any counseling,
it'll be from the pulpit. So if you want to be counseled,
come sit on the pew and I'll counsel you. That's where we
get our counsel from the word of God. And we declare the word
of God. We teach the word of God. We
instruct from the word of God. And that's why he says, thy word
is a lamp under my feet, a light under my path. And does anybody
else want anything else to guide them other than this? This is
enough. I don't need a confession of
faith. I don't need, you know, a lot of people, a lot of people,
a lot of churches have what they call a constitution and bylaws. They have a church constitution,
and then they have a bunch of bylaws, and you have to go by
that constitution, that bylaw. Now, wouldn't that be something
that if I, you know, I give all of you a constitution of what
the church believes, and then tell you all the laws that you
gotta go by? But you know, this is the way
we rule. This is the way the Lord guides
His people, by the Word of God, instructing people from God's
Word, instructing people from God's Word, and taking the Scriptures,
taking the Scriptures and revealing the will of God, revealing what
God says. Oh, so many things that God says
is so good for us. We pray, Lord, lead us not into
temptation. We pray, Lord, Hallowed be thy
name. When we come to God, we come
to Him according to what His will tells us to come to Him.
And His wills made known to us make plain the meaning of scriptures.
You keep Hebrews here and look with me over in 2 Timothy. 2
Timothy is just right before the book of Hebrews. Look over
here. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Talking about this, you know,
revealing and make plain the meaning of the scriptures. The
scriptures. This is our great business. Look
what he said here in 2 Timothy 3, 14. Paul's talking to Timothy
now. But continue thou in the things
which thou hast learned and hast been assured of. Not only learned
them, but you've been assured of it, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them. And what's this, that from a
child that has known the Holy Scriptures, and what are the
Holy Scriptures good for? Making thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Jesus Christ. And all Scriptures, this
is why you can be assured of it, all Scriptures given by inspiration
of God, and it's profitable. The Word of God is profitable.
It's profitable for doctrine, profitable for reproof, profitable
for correction, profitable for instruction in righteousness.
And this is the thing, that the man of God may be mature and
throughly, throughly furnished. And let me show you another one
in Colossians. I want you to see this. This
is how God uses what we mean by guiding, you know, who has
spoken unto you the word of God. Look in Colossians chapter 1,
verse 25. This is our business. This is
our business. This is what we're called to
do. Oh my, look what he says. Paul
said in Colossians 125, whereof I am made a minister according
to the dispensation of God which is given to me. God gives every
man a space of time for the ministry. Calls him and gives him a dispensation.
And look what he said, which is given me for you. He gave
me, made me a minister for you. And look what it says, to fulfill
the word of God. And when you look in the margin,
it says fully to preach the word, to fully preach the word. And
what word is he going to preach? The mystery, which has been hid
from ages and from generations. But now God's made it clear to
his saints. Well, what is it that God hid
and made clear to us, make us to know? to whom God would make
known to his saints what is the riches of his glory, and of the
glory of mystery among the Gentiles, and this is it, which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory." What hope of glory we got? Christ
in you. And listen to what he goes on to say, whom we preach,
Christ, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom that
we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. And I labor,
striving according to the working which worketh in me." Work is
done. God does do the work. So, oh,
back over in our text now. Spoken the Word of God. Spoken
the Word of God. That's what we're at the business
of. And then look what else is said here in verse 7. Whose faith
follow. Whose faith follow. Now, what
in the world is he talking about faith? Whose faith follow? There's
three meanings of faith, if I can say it this way. Three meanings.
The first is what we call believing. Faith, what we believe. We believe. Our faith means what we believe.
And then the object of that faith, THE THING OR THE PERSON TO WHOM
WE BELIEVE, THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH. AND SOMETIMES IT SAYS,
MEANS FAITHFULNESS. I BELIEVE IN THIS PARTICULAR
PLACE, IT MEANS ALL THREE. IT MEANS WHAT WE CALL BELIEVING.
FOLLOW WHAT THEY BELIEVE. FOLLOW THE OBJECT OF THEIR PREACHING,
WHICH IS CHRIST. AND DO WHAT THEY DO, STAY FAITHFUL. BE FAITHFUL. THAT'S WHAT HE'S
TALKING ABOUT. I THINK ALL THREE OF THEM ARE
THERE. And I tell you, they, you know, and that's what he
means, be strong, be strong in the faith, giving glory to God,
not be unshaken in the doctrine of Christ. And this is the reason
why down here in verse nine, because of divers and strange
doctrines, divers and strange doctrines, follow their faith.
Whatever they're preaching, whatever they're calling on you to believe,
the object that they set before your faith, follow their faith. Whatever they're preaching, whatever
it is, you follow. If they're faithful, you be faithful.
And that's what they preach. If you've got faith, and they
set before you the object of faith, which is Christ. Don't
change your creed. That's why I said, but don't
change your creed. Don't change your faith. Oh,
follow what they believe and what they preach. That's what
he means. Hold to the faith of your pastors
and teachers. Follow their faith and follow
only as they continue. Now, I'm telling you, I hate
to talk about these things, but you know, a man that continues
in the steadfast truth of the gospel of Christ, you follow
that man. Me and a dear friend was talking
the other day. That, you know, if the gospel
was to die in one place, you'd have to go somewhere, find somebody
somewhere preaching the gospel. If you had to pick up everything
you own and move, you'd have to go somewhere where the gospel
is. You just have to do it. You could not not do it. And
that's, you know, and that's what, that's how important this
business is. And when a man continues steadfast
in the truth, the gospel of Christ, they do it to the close of their
life. Look what he says down here in verse 14 of Hebrews 13. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. Oh my, all the preachers that
I've met, you know, Maurice Montgomery. Oh, I've heard him preaching.
He's one of the sweetest men ever. Going on, he, I would have,
you know, I believe what he believed right till the day he died. Scott
Richardson, I believe what he believed till the day that he
died. Follow his faith till he, right to the very end. Henry
Mahan, right to the very end. Whose faith follow? What they
preach, what they believe, who they said before you. Would you
agree with me? Jack Shanks, loved to hear Jack
Shanks, had fellowship with Jack. Go on, Don Fortner, follow them
all the way to the end of their life. Or the end of yours. Now that's what he's talking
about. That's what he's talking about. And that's why Paul said,
Fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. I've kept the faith. And henceforth,
he said, the time of my departure's at hand. He said, I kept the
faith right up to the very end. You reckon that anybody would
have followed Paul all the days of his life and listened to him
preach, they could have followed what he preached? Followed what
he believed? Followed the object that he set
before them? And that's what he's talking
about here. And oh, remember, and then it goes on to say here,
considering the end of their manner of life. That's what he
means, considering the end, the end result. What's their life
going to end up being, huh? The end, the result, the end
of the conversation. And what this means, looking
to pass this world, the end of it. What's going to be the end
of their manner of life? Huh? Look beyond this life. It looks into eternity. And,
oh, they continue steadfast in their faith and profession of
Christ to the end of this life, to the end of this life. Oh, my. So doing this, remembering
your pastors, your teachers who have spoken to you God's word,
follow their faith, considering the end of their manner of life. This is one of the means God
uses to establish our hearts in grace. And this is what we
preach. This is what God uses. Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's pretty good. That's a
pretty good thing about these preachers. He said, this is what
they do. They preach Jesus Christ. He's the same today. He was the
same yesterday. He's the same today. And guess
what? As long as time is, and as long
as he is, he's forever. Oh, the Lord Jesus is what he
said. He never changes. He never changes. He never changes
His mind. He never changes His will. He
never changes His purpose. He never changes His grace. He
never changes His love. He never changes His mercy. He never changes. He's the same. Every day that you get up, every
moment of every day, from eternity to eternity, Jesus Christ is
the same. Oh, man's opinions, man's ideas,
and man's convictions, oh my, are always changing, always changing. But Jesus Christ, our Lord, never
changes, never changes. Yesterday, yesterday, the same truth, the same doctrine,
the same person, Yesterday, you know how far yesterday goes back?
Today is the day the Lord and made what day the day that he
made Christ to come into this world to save us from our sin. Oh Yesterday, same truth. Same
doctor to him all the prophets give witness and Today look what
it says Jesus Christ the same yesterday Yesterday, I heard
Gabe Starnaker preach a message on this Somewhere we was in a meeting
together, and he used this text, Jesus Christ saved today, yesterday,
and today, and forever. Oh, today, he's the same today. Is Jesus Christ any different
today than he was yesterday? It's the same truth, the same
salvation. You know, Abel was saved by the
Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham was saved by the Lord
Jesus. Isaac was saved by the Lord Jesus.
Jacob was saved by the Lord Jesus. The same truth, the same doctrine,
the same Christ is the same, right today. And when you get
up tomorrow, it'll be another day, today. And every day you
get up, He's the same today. And when you get into eternity,
He'll be the same one that's always Ain't that something to
look forward to? What he is, he was, and what
he is now, he always will be. It's always today. Oh my. And then, look what it
says. And he's that way forever. Forever's
a long time. Said, oh boy, I'll never do that.
Never's a long time. Forever's a long time. And he's
the same forever. Forever. His doctrine has no variation
in it. He ever lives for us. He loves us forever. He came for us, and His people
came, and because His people, He comes to save His people.
He never changes. Men that we love live, and they
die. We love them, and we miss them.
We highly regard them. But Christ will never die. And
Christ will never change, and we'll never mourn over losing
Christ. Never mourn. Jesus Christ the
same, the same. And oh my, may Christ be the
same to us, all of us. Yesterday, let him be the same
today. Let him be the same forever.
He's the same as himself. He's God and man. His doctrine
is always the same. His promises are sure as He Himself
is. His laws are wise. They're good
as they ever were. And, oh, you've embraced Him
as your Savior, as your Master, as your Teacher, as your Lord.
Would you ever abandon him? Huh? Oh my, I got to, got to
hurry here. And that's why it goes down here
in verse nine. And since everything's the same,
Christ is the same, be not carried about with divers and strange
doctrines. What does he mean, carried about
divers and strange doctrines? Since Christ is the same, Nothing
ever different about him. Divers means foreign, foreign
against the gospel. And strange doctrines means strange
to the scriptures. I'm around a lot of people, and
I see a lot of people with a lot of religion, and a lot of people
got a lot of views, and a lot of people have a lot of things
that they believe. But strange doctrines means that
they're strange to the scriptures. Strange to the scriptures. Strange
to free and sovereign grace. Strange to the glory of God.
Strange to the honor of God. And let me tell you something,
anything goes now. You take Pentecostalism, you
take Jehovah's Witness, you take Unitarians, you take Nazarenes,
you take Kemalites, which is the Church of Christ, and let
me tell you something. You can go back in history. You
can go back and find out when Pentecostalism started and who
it was that started it. You can go back and find where
Mormonism started, where Jehovah's Witnesses started. You can go
back and find everything, where the Camelot started. Camelot
started in 1845. I have a doctrine where a person
absolutely goes over one thing and deal with just one doctrine,
make their message just one point. And you know, here's a strange
doctrine, flat earth. Who ever heard of that? I never
heard of it until somebody told me that they believed it. I never
heard of such a thing in my life. You know, freewillism's a strange
doctrine. The Pope, who's supposed to be
the vicar of Christ on this earth, he's in the hospital. How can
you be the vicar of Christ? Will our Lord ever be in the
hospital? Will our Lord ever get sick? Will our Lord never
be able to do nothing for us? But you can go back in history
and find everything that's ever been taught and find who started
it. Find the person who started,
where it started. Premillennialism, you can go
where it started. You can go where dispensationalism
started. You can go to the time and place
when it started. But you cannot, that's why he
says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. I'm going
to stay right there. I'm not moving. There's old Henry Samuel, drop
my stake down right here and I ain't moving. Oh, and that's
why it's a good thing. Be not carried about. Don't carry,
be carried here and there and unsettled in your mind, unsettled
in your conduct. And there's so many people that
are. And let me tell you, you know, truth is a perfect unit.
Truth is a perfect unit. Error has many things about it. You know, what we believe is
simple. One faith, one Lord, one baptism,
one Savior, one mediator, one way, one truth, one life,
everything's one. You can't get confused with this
one. Oh my, where scripture speaks
of the truth, it's always doctrine, it's always singular. Singular. Our Lord said, if you understand
the will of God, you'll know that my doctrine, that my doctrine,
you'll know whether my doctrine's true or not if he knows God. Singular. But now, wherever you
find error in the scriptures, it's always in the plural. Ain't
that what it says there in the plural? Strange doctrines. It's in the plural. And wherever
you find error, it's always called the doctrines of men or the doctrines
of devils. But when it talks about doctrine,
it's always singular. Just one. One. Truth stands as one unit. It
stands together. Oh my, the truth begins and ends
with God. Begins and ends with God. And oh my, and then let me hurry
up here, I got to, where it's a good thing that the heart be
established with grace, not with meat. Oh my, there's people,
what is that bunch that teaches dietary things? There's a church
that teaches that. It's like the Jews do. But anyway,
you know, not with what we eat, not what, you know, it's not
what we eat or what we drink, but it's faith is establishing
righteousness, truth, you know, not with meat. Oh my, be established
with the grace, with the truth of grace. Oh, thank God for grace,
sovereign grace. The free favor of God, God in
his own will, willing to show you grace. Irrespective of who you are,
irrespective of what you've done. Oh my. When your heart is established
with grace, it's the opposite of being carried about. If you're
established with grace, you ain't going to be carried here yonder,
never were. Oh my. Let me show you something in
Revelations 22. I'll be done here in a minute.
Well, I said a minute. When I say, everybody, when they
say a minute, that means I'll get done when I get done. It just gives you a time without
any real time. Well, look what he says here,
talking about grace. Heart established with grace.
Revelation 22, 21, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen. That's the way, that's the way
the book closes. Opens up in the beginning was
God. It closes, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Oh my. And when we talk about
grace, you cannot talk about grace without talking about eternal
grace. God gave us grace in Christ,
when? Before the world ever began. Eternal grace. And then there's
electing grace. Grace chose us. Chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. And then there's establishing
grace. Grace that establishes in this
world, establishes and fits us and makes us stand true to the
gospel of the grace of God. And then there's enabling grace.
Whatever you go through, whatever trial you go through, whatever
heartache you go through in that, there's always grace to enable
you to go through what you have to go through. Oh, he gives us
grace undeserved and sought for. And it's born in the heart of
the covenant of grace. Look down here in verse 20 of
chapter 13 of Hebrews. Oh, it's born in the heart of
God. It's called a covenant of grace. Now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. Now look what he does. This is
what makes you. Establish you through grace.
Make you perfect in every good work to do His will. Who does
that? God does that. What's He going
to do? Make you only because of this covenant of grace and
the blood of Christ, make you perfect. Make you perfect to
do His will. Working you in you that this
well-pleasing in his sight and this is how he does it through
Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever oh my Yes, yes,
yes, it's what's what's called the gospel of grace Not only
grace for us, but grace in us and when the hearts established
with grace Oh I want to be established in
it. Oh, I don't want to have to.
I don't want to be carried this way, that way, and another way.
Let men come, let men go. Let preachers preach what they
will. God establish our hearts with grace. Our Father, in the blessed name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for being with us this evening.
Thank you for this day you've given us, oh, a day you've given
us to worship you, a day to come into your presence, to open your
word, deal with your word. I pray, oh God, that you enable
me to be honest, be true, and priest to the edification
of your dear people, that they'll grow, that they'll be established,
that they will all be established, that we'll grow and learn always
be willing to be corrected or reproved or whatever is necessary
for our lives. Lord, we submit ourselves to
you. And, oh, Lord, we thank you that you give us the blessed
truth that you're the one that works in us. You're the one that
does the work. And, Lord, we're thankful. And,
Lord, because you work in us and you give us this great love
for you, oh, Lord, we want to turn around and worship you and
adore you and Give thanks unto you and bless your holy name.
God bless these dear saints that's gathered here tonight, those
that couldn't be with us because of sickness, because of frailty
of the flesh. Please meet our needs. Bring
glory to yourself for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Learning to lean, learning to
lean, I'm learning to lean on Jesus. Finding more power than I've
ever known, I'm learning to lean on Jesus. See you Wednesday, God willing.