All right, go ahead and turn
back in your Bibles if you would. And we'll look at a few more
things pertaining to why we meet. Turn if you would over to 1 Thessalonians. So before the break, we looked
at one of the three things that we meet for, which is worship. We meet whenever we come And
together as the church, we meet to worship. And we found out
that we worship God in spirit and we worship God in truth. And those two things are paramount
to proper worship and service of God. It must be done in spirit
and it must be done in truth. If you go too far in one extreme,
according to the scripture, it's not worship. If you go too far
in the other direction, it's not worship, it's something else. And so we have to be balanced
in those things. And I truly think that a child
of grace is brought to that. I think a lot of times we see
these admonitions or we see these definitions, again, so that we
know what is true and what's not true about these things.
and to also expose what's false that's out there. When we look
around and we see, you know, there are churches out there
that are built on nothing but emotional worship, quote unquote
worship, but have no doctrinal foundations at all. It's all
about what I can get, making me feel better. You know, we
look at guys like a guy, Smiley, I always forget his name, Joel
Osteen. Um, uh, You know, we look at
guys like him and it's all about how much money you can make and
how much, you know, how fancy of a home you can have and your
health is always great. These health-wealth guys, it's
always about that. You hardly ever hear them teach
a doctrinal message upon anything except what I can better my life
and get. With my faith and so it's always
about that and so you can go too far in extremes like that
but you can also get into far extremes where it's all about
you know, dead religion and just doctrinal discourses. And that
again, you know, you can go to a classroom and get that, so
to speak, but you know, it ain't, that's not, God said it's gotta
be in spirit and in truth. Now, the next thing that we find
whenever we come as the people of God is that we are coming
to be edified. There in 1 Thessalonians, we
find In chapter 5, look with me at verse 11. Paul writes to the Thessalonican
church, he says, Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify
one another, even as also ye do. Okay, so we're encouraged
to edify one another. Now this isn't, now I guess I
better maybe think about what I was about to say and rephrase
it before it comes out. You know, this is, whenever he
tells us to edify one another, okay? That's something that is
an active thing that we reach out to others and we do, okay? We try to edify one another,
okay? It isn't just some organic thing
that's gonna just naturally flow if we all just sit on our laurels
and do nothing. Now with that being said, again,
it's the Lord who works in us to will and to do is give pleasure.
And it's Him who, it's the Holy Spirit who is working those gifts
out in us for the edification of the brethren. And so He puts
them, the Spirit puts them in the church as He sees fit. He
distributes them to who He sees fit, what He sees fit, You know,
one brother may not have the same gift as another, but it's
equally important to the body. Okay? So edification is something
that is an active thing that we do for each other to the point
where Paul was telling these people that we should edify one
another. Do things that build each other
up. Okay? And there's other places in Scripture
that talks about, you know, whenever, like, we talk about each other.
You know, he said, don't talk about people and tearing them
down, but only speak those things which are the building up. Okay?
And so whenever we visit with one another, conversate with
one another, our conversation ought to be edifying conversation.
Whenever we serve one another, it ought to be for edification
purposes. While we know that it's only
the Lord who works in us, still our mindset is, you know, let
me think, is that going to be to the building up of my brother
or the tearing down? If I say that to him, is that
going to build him up or tear him down? Well, I'm only going
to do what's going to build him up. Now, that doesn't mean that
we cut out correction and rebuke and reprove, okay? That actually
is building up. Most modern-day churches have
it backwards. They think if you go and quote-unquote judge somebody,
if you go judge somebody about what they're doing, you know,
only God can judge me. Well, no, the Bible says that
the people of God are to also do that. Paul wrote, he said,
do we not judge that which is within? God judges that which
is without, but we're to judge that which is within. And so,
yes, whenever we go and we correct and rebuke and reprove, that
is not tearing down, that's actually building up. But yet modern churches
today, they believe that's a tearing down. All you're doing is tearing
down unity. If you're going around telling
everybody that they're wrong about the scripture, that their
doctrine is wrong, if you're going around telling them that
their lifestyle is debauch, a bunch of debauchery and everything,
You're just tearing them down. No, no. Matter of fact, chastisement
is a sign of love, isn't it? Whenever the Lord chastises us,
is he tearing us down? No, he's showing us that he loves
us and is building us up, conforming us to Christ. So, wherefore,
comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also
ye do. And so, we should be edifying
one another. And this is for the brethren. This admonition to edify one
another, I'm not, my admonition isn't to go out and to edify
those who despise God and reject the gospel. What am I building
them up in? If they don't believe the gospel,
if their trust isn't in Christ, then I'm not, what am I going
to build them up in? Build them up in the things of the flesh?
So this edification is about the brethren alone. It only happens
with the brethren alone. See the false religionist and
the reprobate, and possibly could be one in the same. Doesn't mean,
I was a false religionist at one time. So not all false religionists
have no hope, but the false religionists, the reprobate, they will not
and they cannot partake in these things. So whenever we gather
to meet in the church, it's for worship. Well, the false religionist
can't worship because he's worshiping wrong. The reprobate can't worship
because he has not the Spirit of God. See, someone can actually
have the Spirit of God and for some time maybe even worship
wrongly that they don't know. They've not been instructed in
things of Christ. And they may be worshiping wrong. But the reprobate, he can't worship
God at all. And he can't be built up, nor
can he build up. And so again, so we see this
is for those gathered who are born-again believers. See, it
can't be those on the outside. And everybody's wanting to get
the world in here where we meet. See, there were some things that
I disagreed with my grandpa. Now, towards the end of his life,
he began to see some things and admit some wrong in what he preached. But one thing I think he has
right. He used to always say that we
gather to worship and we scatter to evangelize. We scatter to
go out with the gospel. We come in here for the brethren. And whether it be to worship,
to edify, or to fellowship, we gather for worship, and then
we scatter with the gospel to proclaim it to the world. It's
not the other way around. We don't gather the world in
here. And then we go out and scatter to go home to worship
and to edify and to fellowship. I mean, this is where we come
to do that. This is the meeting of the brethren.
This is where we come together. That's why Baptists have always
held to, quote unquote, a regenerate membership. And that doesn't
mean we're always gonna get it right. Okay, there's gonna be
people that profess Christ that may not, you know, they may falter,
flee, and go away. I've seen that throughout my
life. People have been very dedicated
to a church for years and years and years and then now they're
out meth addicts and they're out sexual immoral and all that
kind of stuff and they don't care enough about God anymore.
So, I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is those who
come together, who are born again whenever we gather together,
we're the only ones that can do these things that the Scripture's
telling us to do. The reprobate can't do that.
He doesn't have the Spirit of God in him to want to worship,
to be able to worship, and he's not going to be able to be edified
or to edify. It's only those who have been
quickened of God and made spiritually receptive and active that can
do that. If you would notice, look back in 1 John. 1 John,
chapter two. Look at verse 18. It says, little
children, it is the last time. It is the last time. Wait, wait a minute. John's got
his eschatology wrong. This was way back when he said
it was the last time. We know it's not the last time.
There's gotta be like seven blood moons and a John Hagee conference
before the last time. Little children, it is the last
time. And ye have heard that antichrist shall come even now. there are many antichrists, whereby
we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. Or if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. I say,
well, Mike, why do you even bring that up for? Well, again, whenever
we talk about this issue of why do we meet and what is it that
we talk about when we meet and what is a church gathering or
things like this, one of the things that inevitably comes
up, and I mentioned this kind of in passing earlier, is that
everybody seems to regulate the health of a church on how many
people are there, on the attendance. If the attendance is really big,
then, ooh, that church must be healthy because it's got a lot
of people coming to it. Ooh, that preacher must be preaching
some strong truth because there's a lot of people that's coming
to listen to that thing. Broad is the path that leads
to destruction, many there be on it. Narrow is the way, and
few there be that find it. There is not gonna be a lot of
people, I mean, Jesus said, You know, the people aren't going
to want to hear you. They're not going to listen to these
things. They're going to hate you because they hated me. And
I was the strictest, sternest, straightest, most correct preacher
that's ever lived. And they hated me. And they're
going to hate you. And so don't be surprised about that. So we
say that because people generally think that, oh, if somebody comes
and goes, then it's because of the way that we're doing things.
Now that can very way be possible. I mean, if people come in here
and we treat them like outcasts and we shun them and, you know,
start immediately brow beating them at the door and everything,
I know, uh, Churches that are like that,
you know, they hit you at the door. I remember Brother JC was
telling me one time that there was a church, and I won't mention
the name of it, but there was a church they went to one time,
and they came in, and the women were required to wear head coverings,
and they kind of met them at the door. Immediately, you know,
how come your wife don't have a head covering? Well, there's
some over here and you can put them on. Then there was, you
know, some of the men of the church would back other men into
the corner about, you know, what do you believe about eternal
justification? What do you believe about this? Or what do you believe
about that? I mean, just right off, first
time they ever come. Now, I'm all about being straight
up about stuff, but you know, we can be unloving in our deportment
of things. That don't mean we have to compromise,
but we can be unloving in the way that we do things. And so,
just because somebody leaves doesn't mean we need to adjust
the way we do things. There are gonna be people that
leave surely from the fact that they do not love our gospel,
that we love. They're gonna leave because they
do not love what the scriptures say. And they're looking for
something else. Again, we go back to whatever
comforts them. They're looking for that. But
see, and I've found, whether it's here or whether it's other,
these little pockets of churches, wherever they may be found, who
loves the true gospel. I find that in every one of those
churches, that almost everybody that's in those churches are
content with the simplicity that is coming to worship and to edify
and fellowship. They're fine with the simplicity
of opening up the word of God and hearing the word of God being
preached and taught, singing of hymns and praying and fellowshipping
together. It isn't about the stage, it
isn't about the lights, it isn't about the music, it isn't about
all this stuff. It's about the simplicity of
coming together and doing exactly what that first church did. And I find that they're not out
there, they're not having to hunt. And so that's why you can
go to some of these churches and you, you know, maybe go and
visit them 20 years later. And there's old brothers, I was
like, you're still, you know, you're still here. The same core
group of people are still there. Why? Because that core group
of people was the ones that really loved the gospel. And they weren't
out there for all the glam and the glitter of all the other
stuff that seems to be the accoutrements of the modern day Christianity.
And so we see people go out. And so here, the Holy Spirit
has given us some passages to let us know, listen, there's
gonna be people that's gonna go out from you. And I'm sure
it's gonna be heartbreaking. We've had some people leave here.
It's been heartbreaking. We love those people. We spent
several years loving them, them loving us. And we hate to see
them go. But almost everybody that's left
here has left here, not necessarily on a doctrinal basis, but it's
been over something else, some secondary issue or some other
reasoning that isn't about the gospel. Now, granted, there hasn't
been a lot of that that's happened. We've had some people that's
actually physically moved away and are going to churches somewhere
else and everything. But for the most part, When we
see people go, that may not be a bad thing. And so don't take
it all the time as a bad thing. Now if it is, if it falls into
that category that someone's leaving and there's some issues,
we need to do what the Bible tells us and to try for reconciliation
there. I think we ought to try for reconciliation
in all accounts. I mean, that's paramount. We always should be looking to
reconcile to a brother and sister in Christ. Now if they prove
not to be a brother and sister in Christ and refuse or don't
believe the gospel and those things, then I don't think those
steps are going to be quite as exhaustive as they would be if
we truly knew somebody was a brother and sister in Christ. So they
went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been
of us, they would have no doubt continued of us. But they went
out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. And so sometimes in worship,
someone is not being edified. They don't feel that they're
being edified. Well, if a church is meeting together and they're
worshiping and if they're meeting together and they're using the
gift that God has given them for the good of the whole and
if they're fellowshipping with together there's going to be
a satisfaction there there's going to be a satisfying effect
that is going to be, you know, I'm finding the things that I
need here. And I don't need to look in other places. I don't
need to go somewhere else that I'm getting all the things that
He is supplying all my needs right here. And so don't be discouraged
whenever we see them go away. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
we find that You know, there's gonna be issues
that's gonna arise in churches. If you want, you can look, here again, this is chapter 11. We looked at this a few weeks
ago when we had the Lord's Supper, but I want you to see that there
are gonna be divisions that's gonna take place sometimes, and
that we should get discouraged. Verse 18, it says, 1 Corinthians
11, verse 18. But first of all, when you come
together in the church, I hear that there'll be divisions among
you, and I partly believe it, for there must be also heresies
among you that they which are approved may be made manifest
among you. So there's gonna be divisions
that's gonna arise. The Lord has purposed that there's
gonna be times that people come in to our fellowship. and eventually may be exposed
to have heresy and hold to heresy. And at that point, that's where
it will be made manifest among us who those are that are approved
of God and who those are that aren't. Those who are not approved
of God are gonna be the ones who are gonna follow and believe
the heresy. And we'll be like the passage
in 1 John, they'll leave. Unless they're the ones that
want to turn around and start trouble and want to try to take
over everything like they did up in Coffeyville, Kansas. They took over the whole church
and they got a free building and everything in it was free
because they overtook the whole entire congregation. But brethren, we shouldn't get
discouraged whenever we see those things. Those who are not of
us will always find the worship and preaching that is biblical
to be offensive and they're not gonna want it. The scriptures
say they are at enmity with God. Those who are not born again
are at enmity with God and they're gonna be at enmity with the message
of God. So don't be surprised that many
will, as the Bible says, have a zeal for God, but deny the
power thereof. See, we look across this country
and we see in buildings all over the places, groups of people
gathered who have a zeal for God. I have family that have
a zeal for God, but it's not according to knowledge and they
deny the power of God to be sovereign over all things. including sin
and death, creation, evil. Don't be surprised if they will
turn away from the narrow way and go to the broad way to have
their itching ears tickle. Now, I think that as preachers,
preachers should be diligent to preach the whole counsel of
God. Precept upon precept, line upon line. However, whenever
we do that, whenever we preach, precept upon precept, line upon
line, whenever we preach and teach the passages of Scripture,
we're always gonna find a central theme through that. We're always
gonna find the theme of Scripture is God's exaltation and glory,
and particularly in the face of Jesus Christ. we're going
to find that He is God alone and has not shared that glory
nor His power with anybody else, nor His decision-making with
anybody else. And so, yes, we preach the whole
counsel of God, but is it going to come back to that quote-unquote
dead horse or candy stick? Well, if we're preaching the
Word of God, it's all going to always come back to that one
thing. I preach Christ and Him crucified. Well, wait a minute,
you're preaching in the Old Testament, that's right, I preach Christ
and Him crucified. We're preaching in the Psalms, that's right,
Christ and Him crucified. You're preaching in the prophecies,
that's right, Christ and Him crucified. Well, that's just
the historical section. Yep, that's Christ and Him crucified. See, brethren, if we're not finding
Christ and Him crucified on every page, then we're not seeing what
Scripture is saying. because everything is about Him.
See, this message, this Gospel, it's manifested because of what
God has done already in the heavenlies before the foundation of the
world through the everlasting covenant in the true tabernacle,
not pitched with hands by the Lamb's flame. See, that's what this message
is all about. From cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, it's
about the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. What
God, before creation, had determined in His determinant counsel to
do, He purposed, He willed, and covenanted with Himself to carry
all these things out and at the end be all for His glory. Are we going to be glorified
in the end? Yes, but that's not the central theme is our glorification. While we are the recipients of
that glory, the main event of all creation
and in all time is the glorification of Jesus Christ. In 2 Timothy 1.9 we learn, the
Bible says, who have saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began." Now, if there isn't a scripture in the whole entire Bible that
says that this one does, salvation is eternal. And I would say justification
is eternal. Because the only ones who receive
grace from God are those who have been justified. We have been called with a holy
calling, not according to our works. It isn't conditional. Why? Because it was before the
world began. See, it's being carried out,
though, in time. See, this eternal salvation that
we declare, this gospel that we preach from cover to cover,
and yes, to some it may sound like a dead horse or a candy
stick, but it is the tenor of all of Scripture, is an eternal
salvation that is untouched by man's hands. whether it is in
the legal aspect and outside of time, or whether it is in
the physical and temporal time aspect, it's all outside of our
control. It's not touched with our hands
whatsoever. It isn't up to us to make sure
that gospel message gets to somebody else. It's up to God to get that.
He will get that gospel message to all those. There's not gonna
be one for whom Christ died, not one for whom was given to
Christ for him to die for, and who he did die for, who will
ever perish. But all will be given everlasting
life. Not one will be lost. There's
not gonna be some hoogie-boogie-jibbie-boo over in Africa that was in a
bush somewhere that missed the missionary and didn't hear the
gospel. If he was a child of grace, he
will hear the gospel and come to Christ. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and all that come to me I will in
no wise cast out. The message of the gospel from
cover to cover is a finished salvation that is in Christ alone
without any conditions. And so whenever we come together
as a church, It is to worship the God of that. It is to praise
the God who carries those things out for His glory. And it's also
to praise and honor the God who has the sovereignty to choose
one and not another. to have one vessel for honor
and one vessel for dishonor. Is God less glorious because
he has created a vessel for dishonor who never will hear the gospel,
who never will believe, who will be destroyed at the end of the
age? Is God less glorified? Glorious? Is God less holy? Now, he purposed that from the
foundation of the world. For those who don't believe that
God is sovereign over sin and evil, well, what about that?
God chose, before the foundation of the world, who would be in
Christ and who would not be in Christ, and everyone who would
not be in Christ, he would destroy because of sin. They had no choice
in the matter. But does that make God unrighteous?
Well, who are you, old man, to reply us back to God? Why has
thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay to make one a vessel of honor, one a vessel of dishonor?"
Just paraphrasing there. See brethren, it's an eternal
salvation, but listen, it's being carried out in time to be manifested
to the sons of God, what God has predestinated. And it is
providentially bringing to pass. Also there in 2 Timothy, in the
10th verse, he says, but is now made manifest. See, what did
we just talk about? Well, we just talked about the
salvation, who hath saved us and called us with the holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but now made manifest, brought to light, brought to
surface, made known, able to be seen, able to be conceived,
able to be understood, is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and
hath brought life and immortality to light. through the gospel. See, the gospel was never intended
to bring life. It was intended to bring light
on the immortality and life that God has already given to his
people. So is it a dead horse? No, because
from Genesis to Revelation, that's what it's all about. It's all
about this. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. Why? Because there was a redemptive
purpose that God had planned before the world had begun to
honor, to glorify, to magnify, to exalt His Son, Jesus Christ,
in the saving of a people. And it wouldn't have happened
without in the beginning. It wouldn't have happened without
an Adam and an Eve. It wouldn't have happened without
sinful hands. Sin had to enter into the world
for Jesus to be the bearer of sin. And there had to be a sin
maker, actor, who brought it in. And God determined before
the foundation of the world that by one man, sin would enter into
the world and death by sin. And that was through the man,
Adam. So you can't tell me God didn't
purpose all that. But we read from Genesis to the
very end, when all those who are wicked are cast into the
lake of fire, and this world has been burned up, rolled up
like a scroll and done away with, and a new heaven and a new earth
has come in where righteousness dwells, and there is Christ and
his people forever. From that point to that point,
it is all about the work and exaltation of Jesus Christ and
what he did in salvation, in history. It's all about that. So yes, we're gonna kick a dead
horse. Yes, we're gonna have our candy sticks because it's
all about that. Whether we go to Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John, wherever we turn in this Bible, it is gonna be
about that. And if that message turns you
off, then that's not, then your message isn't the gospel then.
If that message bores you, then the gospel is not your gospel.
See, this is the gospel. Every preacher of grace that
declares all things the sovereign work of God does in bringing
about His glory and salvation by Christ alone is preaching
the Gospel. No matter from what angle, from
what verse, it's all about that. It's the sum of all Scripture.
It's the food and the nourishment upon which the sheep feed. Didn't
Jesus say that? I'm the bread of life. He who
eats this flesh and drinks this blood, he won't be hungry. He
won't be thirsty. What is it that we're eating?
We're eating and drinking the finished work of Jesus Christ.
We're eating and drinking what he did in salvation for us, his
death for us. And that is nourishment. So if
someone says, you know, all I hear is the gospel there about that. I want to hear life application,
stuff like that. And they're not being fed by
the gospel. Listen, the life application comes because the
spirit works in you to will and to do is give pleasure. The application
comes. We, if you love me, you will,
what? Keep my commands, right? He said,
I will put a new heart in you. I'll take out that heart of stone,
I'll put in a heart of flesh, and I will cause you to walk
in my steps. I don't have any problem worrying
whether I'm going to keep that up. Am I going to accomplish
the works that God has called for me to do? Am I going to accomplish
those? I'm going to accomplish every
one because they were predestinated before the foundation of the
world that I should walk in them. So I'm not worried about that.
So what do I look to? Well, I look to the Gospel. The
Gospel feeds me. See, life application doesn't
feed me. That's not to say we don't preach
when we come across it about admonitions of Scripture. But
you know what? If all I do is preach life application,
that lays the law on your back. Keep up a performance. Do good. Do more. Reach out further. Reach out better. Reach out louder. clearer, stronger. See, life
application comes from a heart that has already been born again.
But whenever we hear the gospel, you know what that does? The
gospel gives us the love of God, for God. Gives us a love for
God. And those who love Him keep His
commandments. That's not a prerequisite. You've got to love me. by keeping
my commandments. No, if you love him, you'll keep
his commandments. See, that's why Jesus was called
the bread of life. We feed on his sacrifice alone. Listen, no preacher or teacher
can teach anybody this though. Say, well, boy, we've just had
a long exercise in futility then. What are you here for then, preacher?
Listen, no one can teach anybody these things. See, we're all
taught of God first, foremost. All me and Larry and any of the
other brothers do whenever we preach and teach is we confirm
the truths of Scripture that the Holy Spirit has already taught
you in your heart. You say, well, I don't know about
that. Jeremiah 31 verses 33 through
35 says this, and if you want to turn, you can, or write it
down. I'll go ahead and read it. Let's take a time here. It
says, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward
parts, not their outward parts, in their inward parts. That means
he'll put it on the inside. So keeping God's law is gonna
come from the inside out, not from the outside in. It's never
about a preacher who lambashes you with the law to make you
do what you're supposed to do. It always comes from the inward
part. If ever the law is being kept because of something outwardly,
it's dead works. If you're keeping God's law because
some preacher or because of some scary stone tablets that are
staring you in the face, works of the flesh. See the commands, excuse me,
the law of God is kept because it has been placed in the inward
parts. I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in
their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people. and they shall teach..." Here
it is. Listen to this. This is God's Word. This isn't
Mike. This isn't a seminary somewhere.
This isn't a Calvinistic system. This isn't anything. This is
God's Word telling us this, Mr. Evangelical person. "...and they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know Me." From the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive
their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. See, the teaching
comes from God. It doesn't come from me. Now,
I'm up here confirming things, maybe placing things for you
to go back and learn, but it's never gonna find a place of trust,
belief, faith, solid ground for you unless the Holy Spirit teaches
you that. That doesn't mean that we tell
all the preachers, go home. Okay? We don't need you. We don't tell
the church, quit meeting, we don't need you. Okay? Go into your prayer closet, because
everything you need is right there in your prayer closet.
That doesn't mean throw everything out, okay? There's purposes for
all these other things. But when it comes down to the
learning, not just hearing, not just gathering facts, but the
learning of that, where it comes to rest in your heart as truth,
That's only because the Holy Spirit taught you the truth.
In John 6 and verse 45, the Bible says it is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all, all, all, not just the ones who went to
Christian school or seminary, they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." So here
we have a promise of Scripture in two places that God is going
to teach His people. And that every one of them will
be taught. Now, here comes the debate. You
mean to tell me that those who die always rejecting this Gospel,
believe in the Arminian free will Gospel, that they were, you know, you
guys keep saying that they weren't Christians. I don't call anybody my brother
who does not believe the Gospel. I would call anybody a brother
and sister in Christ if they believe the Gospel. No matter
how religious they are, But brethren, listen, if they're not believing
the gospel, I can't extend the term and the hand of fellowship
of brother or sister because they are not gospel believers. That doesn't mean that they can't
be or won't be at some point later. It's just saying at that
point of unbelief, they are unbelievers. They are not believing the gospel.
And if they die that way, never coming to believe the gospel
of Christ, then they weren't of us, ever. And here, we see that they are
all taught of God. Not just some of them are taught
of God, and some of them kinda, nah, maybe so. They were all
taught of God. You think the thief on the cross
knew some things? Well, some people say he wasn't.
He didn't know nothing. Well, he was taught enough by
God to know where his righteousness lied. He was taught enough of God to
know where his righteousness lied. The man right there next
to him, he knew that was his hope. Whenever you come into
your kingdom, remember me. He didn't say much, did he? Let
me try to develop this one sometime in an article or something. That thief on the cross didn't
say much, but he said a lot when he said it. Whenever you come
into your kingdom, remember me. You remember the scripture that
says that in that day, there's gonna be many that say, Lord,
Lord, and God's gonna say, depart from me, you doers of iniquity.
I never knew you. And this guy knew enough that
he said, hey, I want him to know me whenever he comes in his kingdom.
Why? Because my destiny lies in this
man's hands that's dying next to me. It's not about me, it's
this man. So you think God taught? That
sinner on the cross that died those just few short hours? Absolutely. He might have not been able to
take you chapter and verse and lay out some doctrinal discourses,
but that man knew the gospel. He was taught of God, the gospel
of imputed righteousness by Jesus Christ in as simplified as it
was, but he knew to cast all of his care upon Christ and that
all of his hope was in Christ. and not in his own works. Listen, it wasn't even his repentance. He didn't even try to come to
a repentant state in front of Christ. Now he showed a repentant heart
whenever he laughed out at the other guy, hey, we're deserving
of what we got. The other guy didn't think he
was deserving. That's another thing that we see in people who
are born again. They know their sin. They know
their sinfulness and their deservedness of whatever they get for that
sin. And so here you see on that cross, one man who didn't know
that, one man who did. Who taught that man his depravity? God did. Who taught that man
his need for Christ? God did. And who taught him that
it was found only in what was happening on that cross next
to him? God did. No preacher was there
preaching to him. God taught him that. In John 16 and verse 13, the
Bible says, Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will guide you into all There's that word all again. All truth. For He shall not speak of Himself,
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and will
show you things to come. So here again we see that they
are going to be taught of God. That they're going to be taught
all truth. The Spirit of truth is given
to us so that we might be brought or guided into all truth. That's why I say, at some point,
the child of grace is going to come to profess the truth of
what the Scripture says. 1 John 2, verse 27, But the anointing,
and that's talking about being born again from the Spirit, But
the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye
need not that any man teach you, But as the same anointing teacheth
you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." So that tells me there
that the Holy Spirit has been given to us and is in us to lead
us into all truth, to teach us all truth, for us to recognize
that it is the truth and not a lie, and that we will abide
in that. Now that's God's description
of what a child of grace is and does. See, I don't have to preach
to you to abide in him. There's a lot of books and sermons
that are preaching to you to tell you how to abide in him.
But I believe that we will abide because he has given his spirit
to us. The Spirit will cause us to abide in Him. The Spirit
will cause us to know the things of God and to teach us the things
of God. I have arguments all the time
with guys online who tell me that, you mean to tell me, you
know, whenever I tell them, you guys keep trying to prove your
point by pointing to a commentary or some abstract theology or
some confession of faith. You know, the Westminster confession
of faith is not the Word of God. Neither is the Baptist confession
of faith. It's not the Word of God. And I don't go to them to
get my information. It's there. It's where we get
our information. And no matter what a man... And I hear him
say, You mean to tell me that 70 godly, religious, educated
men all gathered together, all saying the same thing and writing
these down, and you find these same guys have unity in history
with other people and blah blah blah all this stuff and you're
gonna deny say that you know more I had a guy tell me this
just the other day are you telling me that you think you know more
than John Owen? I said well in this area I think
I do But it isn't about how much I know. It's about what the Spirit's
revealed. Is that what the Bible says?
Is John Owen saying what the Bible says? I don't care what
John Owen says. He's a great guy. Very smart.
Very educated in the Scriptures. Hard to read, but there he is.
But listen, it's not about that. I don't care how much you love
Spurgeon. Spurgeon isn't Jesus. Neither is BB. Neither is Trot.
Neither is, you know, All these guys that you want to put up,
we have no need that any man should teach us. And I've had
people that said, matter of fact, I had a guy say, well, I feel
sorry for your church, but they have a pastor that thinks that
he doesn't need to go to other men to find out what the Bible
says. And I said, well, you know, by
grace alone, My church hears any truth. That's the only way
they hear truth is by grace alone. But I said, I feel sorry for
churches who have men that don't go to God for their word and
go to men for their word. Back to the verse, we don't lean
on the arm of the flesh. We don't look to the flesh. We
look to the spirit to lead us. So brethren, people coming and
attending, leaving or leaving because they're not being fed
by what they desire to eat. There is no confirming in their
heart the Spirit's teaching. So if a preacher is faithful
in preaching Christ and Him crucified, and the full gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace, the sheep will be fed because it
will confirm what God has taught them in their heart. Predestination
and election, as well as all things pertaining to the gospel
of free grace. These things are the things that
bring the comfort to God's people because it tells them of what
God has done, not what they have to do. And again, this in and
of itself can't be taught by men or learned by the reprobate
and the false religionist. It must be put to the heart of
the person and testified by the spirit to the one who's been
quickened. And so whenever they hear the
preacher, they're comforted by hearing the truth and the message
of Christ. One of my favorite verses in
Isaiah is Isaiah chapter 40 verses 1 and 2. The Bible says, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. God is telling us to
comfort ourselves. That's the fellowship, the edification
part of our worship. We come and we comfort each other.
He says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. But how does God
tell us to comfort each other? speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her..." Here it is. "...that her warfare is accomplished."
Your warfare is accomplished, brethren. "...that your iniquity
is pardoned." All your sins are gone. Wiped out. Why? Because you, child of grace,
"...hath received of the Lord's hand double for all your sins."
Christ has died for you, and He has given you redemption. See, we comfort the sheep by
telling what God has done. So, you know, whoever's listening
or watching, don't think, if you're in a church that is preaching
the gospel and teaching the gospel and holding to the simplicity
of the worship of God's people, don't think that your preacher
is neglecting the masses. by doing this. He's not neglecting
the masses. Matter of fact, the masses is
God's business, right? The Lord will build His church.
See, your preacher is to take the whole counsel of God wherever
he's at. To take the whole counsel of
God, open it up, and to comfort Christ's people with that. See, we don't comfort God's people
with wishy-washy truth. If I'd come to Larry and try
to comfort Larry with some wishy-washy Joel Osteen business in his time
of need, whatever it might be, whether it be hardship or heartache
or, you know, maybe even sin or whatever, you think that's
going to comfort him for me to go, well, you're just a great
guy, a wonderful guy. And if you're just trusting yourself
and believing in yourself, everything's going to be all right. Larry's
going to tell me to get out of Dodge, brother. Where have you
come from? But whenever I come next to him
and I'm saying, well, one thing's for sure, the iniquity that you're
experiencing has been wiped away. And while it's hard on our heart
right now, he'll remember that no more. Those sins, I know that
you're struggling with them and you feel bad because you've sinned
against the Lord. And I'm not telling you to keep
doing it, but know this, he don't remember them. They're gone away. Every one of them has been plunged
in the fountain of blood. Your garment is white as white
can be. Your robe has been given to you from the one who bought it for
you. See, that's going to comfort the child of grace. The Lord's people love to speak
of His power to one another. That's what's precious in that
passage in Isaiah. He says that, speak comfortably, cry and tell them that their
warfare is accomplished, their iniquity is pardoned for they
have received double of the hand from the Lord. The Bible also says that, verse, excuse me, and I'm trying
to find my place, I moved my, Scripture notes out here. That
Psalms 145.11 says, They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom
and talk of thy power. A lot of people don't like to
talk about the power of God. They like to talk about the glories
of His kingdom. But let's not talk about the
power of God. In Malachi 3 and verse 16, the Bible says, Then
they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. And the
Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon His name." That word name there often refers to God's authority
or God's power. And so, he's saying here, they
that feared the Lord spake often one to another and they thought
upon His power and His authority. We've all said it here. I've
heard every one of us in here mention at some point or another,
and they say, listen, the more that we learn and understand
the sovereignty of God and His control and predestination, things
like that, the more comforting it is in the trials of our life
to get us through the things of this world. Brethren, I know
it's been kind of long this morning, but I want to say this. Don't worry about how visitors
come and go. Don't worry about what they think
about how we meet and why we meet. See, if they find the preaching
of the power and the sovereignty of God and the salvation of His
people distasteful, then they may just not belong here. Jesus
said, My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me. And Jesus also said this, they
are of the father of their devil and his will they will do. There's
two groups of people. There are two seeds that are
out there. The seed of Christ is going to
love those things. The seed of Satan is not. And so I'll leave you with this
in second Corinthians chapter two. And if you want to turn
there and read along with me, And I hope it comes across at
least the way it did in my mind on why it's pertinent to what
we have to say today. 2 Corinthians 2, starting in verse
14. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are
unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved and in
them that perish. To the one we are the saver of
death unto death, and to the other the saver of life unto
life. And who is sufficient for these
things?" So whenever we look about why
we meet and why some may not like meeting, why some come and
some go, what's our purpose here? Well, we meet here so that we
might be a saver, a sweet saver of Christ. We meet here that
we might worship Him, that we might edify one another and we
might fellowship together. And to some, that's gonna be
a saver of life, under life. But to some, it's going to be
a savor of death unto death, and it's not going to be pleasurable,
it's not going to be comfortable, and it's not going to be favorable
for them. And so in those times, while
yet we grieve to see them go, we know that they may not be
of us because they went out from us. Anybody have anything that
you'd like to add? Brother, you got anything you'd
like to say, add to that? Can I just read one thing? You sure can. and I couldn't find it, so thank
you. All faith, belief, and repentance
comes from our Father above, delivered to us in the Spirit,
working by His eternal love. This gift of faith and salvation
was an eternal decree given to us by the Father in the past
eternity. Before the foundation of the
world, we were adopted into Christ, this everlasting inheritance
was purchased by a perfect sacrifice. Slain from the foundation of
the world, it was decreed that he would die. He was manifested
in time for such a wonderful design. Yes, all faith, belief,
and repentance comes down from the Father above, and God's people
are secured forever by this eternal love. Amen. Amen. Any other brothers got anything
that you'd like to say? Brother Mark? No? Okay. Alright, well brother, it's good
to see you. Good to be with you today. Let's bow and we'll have
a word of prayer and we'll ask the Lord to bless the food that
we're about to eat. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you today for your mercy and your grace. And we thank you
for your people that you call together to congregate, to worship,
to edify, and to fellowship together. Thank you for each one of these
brothers and sisters in Christ, Lord. I'm grateful to the love
and the admonition and to the encouragement that we have among
each other and the sharing of the truth, the love of the truth. Father, it's such a blessed thing
to have. And Father, I'm thankful for the safety that you've given
us over the last few weeks for these brethren who've been through
the ice storm and for everyone to be fine and healthy through
that, for the travels that you've given me the last couple weeks
and flying back and forth, and for the safety you give my family
while I was gone. And Lord, I'm grateful to be
able to meet the times that we don't get to meet. I don't realize
how much I miss being with these brethren. So I thank You, Father,
for the times that we get to meet and the love we have. And Father, Lord, I thank You
for the Word of God that despite what other men and other congregations
of people that gather professedly in Your name say, we have the
Word of God as the truth. It's that and that only that
we can stand on. And Father, although sometimes
it's hard to see people come and go. We pray that those times that it
happens, Lord, it may not be because of us and anything that
we did in the flesh to offend. And so, Father, Lord, I pray
that you would help us to not only be loving among each other,
but for those who may ever come. Lord, but we know that you bring
those who you desire to be a part. And so, Lord, as we go our way
this week, wherever we may go, whether it's to airplane or red
barn or to a grocery store or to a flower shop or to a haircutting
place or a dental office or x-ray room. Wherever we're at, Father,
as we speak and teach and minister Christ and tell about Him, share
the Word of God, Lord, I pray that your people that are out
there, wherever they may be scattered, Father, that they'll hear and
that they'll be brought into a fold wherever it may be. So,
Father, Lord, I just thank you again for your mercy and grace
upon us. I thank you for Christ. I thank
you for dying for us and for salvation and for life that we
have in and through Christ. And that all of it was not only
purposed, but was finished before the foundation of the world.
And that it was made manifest to us, that we might see it.
tangibly and know it, that there might be evidence of it in front
of us to know that there was a man who came, who lived for
us and died for us and rose again and is seated at the right hand
of God now interceding for us and that one day is coming back
again to get us. and to live with us forever and
for eternity. So, Father, Lord, we are so,
so grateful for that salvation and we look forward to your return.
We pray that it's quickly. We ask you now to bless this
food to the nourishment of our bodies. We ask, Lord, that you
just might bless these ladies who have prepared these things
and we're so grateful for their service to us in that manner.
And, Lord, we just ask that you'll bless the fellowship around the
table that it also might be honoring to you. In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.