Well, Matthew the 12th chapter. Here's a poem. I read it, I guess,
several times a week when I'm preparing messages for you here
and other places as well. I keep it in the back of my Bible.
And you will see me frequently turn back there if you watch
and read it before I stand up here to preach. It was written
a long, long time ago by another preacher by the name of Francis
Haverhill. This is what he says. Lord, speak
to me that I may speak in living words of thy grace. As thou hast
sought me, so let me seek thine elect sons of every race. Lord,
oh, lead me that I may lead thy wandering and wavering, that
I may lead the wandering and wavering feet. Feed me, Lord,
that I may feed others with thy manna sweet. Lord, strengthen
me that as I stand firm on the rock and strong in thee, I may
stretch out a loving hand to weary ones on a troubled sea. O teach me, Lord, that I may
teach the precious truth thou dost impart, and bless my words
that they may reach the hidden depths of another heart. Supply
my needs, O gracious Lord, that I may give to those in need.
I long to show along life's road my love, not only in word but
in deed. Oh, use me, Lord, even me, just
as you will, and when, and where, until thy blessed face I see,
thy rest, thy joy, and thy glory there. Now that's my prayer to
God as I stand and preach to you. In Matthew 12, verses 38
through 50, The Lord Jesus silences the caviling
Pharisees who came to accuse him and to ensnare him. He demonstrates
the validity of Holy Scripture and the danger of graceless religion. And then he gives comfort to
all who believe. Now let's look at the text. We'll
begin at verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees, these fellows were constantly banding together,
though they didn't really have a great deal in common. They
were religious people. They had a great deal in common,
really, but they didn't think they did. The one group was the
intellectual crowd. The other, just the normal, ordinary
folks among the religious group. But the Pharisees and the scribes,
they banded together. They came trying to trap the
Lord Jesus. And they said, they answered,
that is, they answered his words, his instruction. This is how
they answered. Master, master. I can almost
hear the hiss of the devil in it. Master, we would see a sign
from thee. Now in this verse of scripture,
the Holy Spirit shows us that unbelief always seeks a sign. Unbelief always seeks a sign. These Pharisees in their brazen,
obstinate, arrogant, self-righteous unbelief said, master, we will
see a sign of thee as if to imply, now we're just right on the verge
of believing. We're just, we're almost there.
If you would just show us a sign, then we would become your disciples
and we would follow after you. As if to say, now we have seen
The blind received their sight. And we've seen the deaf here.
We've seen the lame walk. We've seen lepers cleansed by
your word. We've seen a man with his withered
hand made completely whole just by your word. Just by your word. They said we've seen, we've seen
the dead raised up by the word of God. Now if you just show
us something else. If you'd just show us something
else, then we'd believe. Then we'd believe. There are many
just exactly like them in our day. Many who claim a willingness
to believe if only you could give them enough proof. I just
got one more question. I just got one more thing that
bothers me. I just got one more little incident
over here that looks to me like maybe it might not possibly jail
with everything else. Now if you could just settle
my questions, if you could give me enough evidence and enough
proof, then I'd believe because I'm open-minded. I'm sure enough
open-minded. I'm not one of these closed-minded
bigots, you know. I'll believe if you could just
prove it to me. Well, the fact is, they won't believe. And the Pharisees were saying
in reality, we have seen signs, but we're not going to believe
you. We're not going to believe you because you can't persuade
us to believe you. And that's the way it is with
men in our day. Sometimes you may be fooled into thinking.
If we could just, if I could just go at this thing one more
way, if I could just come at it from another angle, if I could
just, if I could just answer this one question this fellow's
got, he'd sure enough believe me. I guarantee you, if you could
answer the one question that somebody has that really perplexes
them, answer it precisely before you got the answer out, they'd
have another question. I guarantee you, guarantee you. Why? Because
obstinate unbelief Demanding a sign has an excuse not to believe. That's all. Turn over to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The
Apostle Paul recognized this. This is one of the reasons I
don't spend a great deal of time in what folks call apologetics
and such as that. I recognize a value for you who
believe to see the consistency of our faith. I recognize some
value for you and I who are believers to look at various scientific
evidence from the creation scientists who would bolster our faith in
the word of God as though somehow their scientific investigation
gives more validity to the Word of God. And that ought never
to be the case with us. But I do see some value in being
able to look at things and say, now there, there's evidence,
there's demonstration of these things that are so. But our faith
does not rest on scientific evidence. Do you understand that? Our faith
does not rest upon what men are able to prove or disprove. Our
faith rests upon the Word of God, not upon science. I'll give
you an example. There is absolutely no way under
the shining sun to prove or disprove evolution. It's very logical. I'm sorry, creation is very logical
and very reasonable. Evolution is a farce and it's
a joke. I said that just backwards. But
creation can't be proved and it can't be disproved except
to faith. Except to faith. I believe it.
I believe God created the heavens and the earth by his word. But I believe it just as fully
as if I was standing there watching him when he did it. I do. To my mind, anything else is
just a joke. But I can't prove that to anybody.
There's no way on this earth to prove the virgin birth. How
are you going to prove that? It's unscientific. It's impossible
for a virgin to have a child. That's just not possible, except
in these days by artificial insemination. But how are you going to prove
that God the Holy Spirit Created the body and the human soul of
Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin without the aid of a man.
Why it can't be proved? It can't be proved. But I believe
it, do you? I rest my soul on it. I hang
my eternal destiny on it. But we don't require a sign for
it. We understand by the Word of
God that these things are so. That's sufficient for a believer.
Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 21, he says, after that
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased
God, get it now, not by scientific proof. not by logic and argument,
not by oratorical skills, not by signs and evidences, but by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The
Jews require a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the
Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are thee called. Those who are called by the effectual
call of God the Holy Spirit, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ
is the power of God and the wisdom of God. You understand that?
You remember when the rich man lifted up his eyes in hell, and
was in torment in those flames, and he called the father Abraham,
and he said, if you would just send somebody from the grave
to go speak to my brothers, they would believe. Boy, that'd do
it, wouldn't it? That'd do it. You know good and
well if you could get somebody to come in here who had been
raised up from the grave. I'm not talking about one of
these shysters now that these nuts say been raised up from the dead.
I'm talking about somebody sure enough who was dead and came
back to life. If you could get him and have
him stand here, then folks would believe. Nah. Nah. The book says no. God says they've
got Moses and the prophets. If they won't believe Moses and
the prophets, they won't believe the woman raised from the dead.
That's what God says. False, pretentious, religious
unbelief comes and says, give us a sign and we'll believe.
But I want you to understand that faith in Christ cannot be
produced by signs, proofs, and arguments. Faith is the gift
of God. It is wrought in men and women
by the hearing of the word. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing. I said to your son the other
night, he was asking me about how can I believe God? I said,
park yourself on a bench right there and listen to God's word
three times a week. I mean it. Faith comes by hearing,
hearing, hearing. and hearing by the Word of God.
And you won't get faith apart from the Word of God. That's
where faith comes from. It is brought to our hearts by
God the Holy Spirit invading our souls with this seed of life. And it brings forth life. That
life brings forth faith. And the basis of our faith is
the naked Word of God. That's all. Turn to 1 John chapter
5. First John chapter 5, verse 9. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. You got three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these
three are one. And there are three that bear
witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and
these three agree in one. Now, if you've got the witness
of the Holy Spirit, and the witness of the Word of God, and the witness
of the blood of Christ, well, if you believe the witness of
man, surely the witness of God is worthy of your belief. For
this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. You got it right here in your
hand. Bobby Estes, you've got the witness of God right here
in your hand. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself, that is, in his heart. He that believeth not God says
God's not fit to be believed. He'd make God a liar. Because
he believeth not the record, right here, the record that God
gave of his Son. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life. Do you know how you have eternal
life? How do you know you have eternal life? How do you know
that? I believe God. That's all. Well, I believe God
and I feel. No. I believe God and I don't. No. I believe God and I want
this. No. How do you know you have
eternal life? I believe God. That's all. That's
all. That you may know that you have
eternal life and that you may continue to keep right on believing
on the name of the Son of God. That's the reason God gave you
the word here. Now, where does your faith stand? In the wisdom
of men or in the word of God? I faith stand in the word of
God and that alone. The only way anyone can ever
see the glory of God and the only way anyone can ever be established
in the peace of God and the truth of God is by believing. That's
the only way. Listen to this passage here in
Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah chapter 7. I'd almost forgotten about this
statement in the, I believe it's in the ninth verse of Isaiah
7. Yeah, the last sentence of verse
9, if you will not believe, surely you shall not be established. If you will not believe, you
shall not be established. Now you may think to yourself,
well Brother Don, has been trained in theological studies and he
reads and studies theology and it's just reasonable that he
should be strong in faith. Reading and studying and training
will not establish you in faith. It won't do it. Well, how do
you get established? Believe God. Believe God. That's all. Believe God. I don't have any idea what Jim
and Nancy are going through right now if they haven't heard from their
son and have no way of contacting him. But I'll tell you how they
can be established. I'll tell you how they can get
through it. And I'll tell you how you can get through your
troubles. I'll tell you how you can get through your stormy seas.
I'll tell you how you can overcome the difficulties and trials that
you face. and overcome them without pulling your hair out and chewing
your fingernails off. Believe God. Just believe God. Say, preacher, I gotta have more
than that. Then you don't believe. Just believe him. Just believe
him. That's all. Our Lord Jesus said
to Martha and Mary when they were standing at Lazarus' tomb,
if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. And I'm telling you, if you believe
Him, you'll see God's glory in His redemptive work, in His providential
work, and in all things that come to pass until at last you
stand before Him and you see His glory. If you believe, you'll
see the glory of God, not otherwise. Secondly, In verses 39 through
42, we are clearly taught that the authority of the Old Testament
and the New Testament stand or fall together. Read with me.
These Pharisees said, now Lord, show us a sign and we'll believe.
And in verse 39, Jesus answered and said unto them, an evil and
adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. There shall no
sign be given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as
Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth." Now don't trip up over nonsense. Some fellows
have written books trying to say that you had to measure 24-hour
days and such that the Jews measured days by saying any part of a
day and referred to any part of a day as being a day. And
so you don't have to calculate out the time when the Lord Jesus
was crucified and how long he stayed in the tomb when he rose
from the dead. That's all nonsense. That's all nonsense. Don't trip
up over that. The scripture teaches that Christ, like Jonah, died
and went into the belly of the earth. Jonah didn't die, but
Christ did. Went into the belly of the earth and he was raised
up. The third day came forth from the grave. And that's the
doctrine. So don't get tripped up looking for things that aren't
there. But our Lord points to Jonah and said, now Jonah was
in the whale's belly for three days and for three nights. So
shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth for three
days and three nights. The men of Nineveh, verse 41,
shall rise in judgment with this generation. And they, because
they repented, they shall condemn it because they repented at the
preaching of Jonas. And behold, a greater than Jonas
is here. The queen of the south, that is the queen of Sheba, shall
arise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn
it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. You notice how Lord Jesus just almost casually refers
to Jonah and this incident with the Queen of Sheba and refers
to them as facts not to be questioned. How's that? Because it's recording
the Word of God. Now you don't really believe
that Jonah story, do you? Yeah, sure do. Well, how are you going
to explain a fish swallowing up a man, that man living in
the belly of that fish for three days and then being spewed out
on the ground? I don't know how I'm going to
explain that. They ain't going to bother. They ain't going to
bother. I just know it happened because
the book says it happened. While Jonah was in the whale's
belly, he was down there praying. That's right, he was down there
praying. And when he called on the name of the Lord and said,
I'll confess, salvation is of the Lord, the fish spit him out
on dry ground. And Jonah went to Nineveh in
high gear. That's the reason the fish swallowed
him up in the first place. Now either you believe that or
you believe nothing in the book. That's right. The queen of Sheba,
she was apparently one of the mightiest, most powerful, most
influential, most wealthy people in the world in her day. Probably,
she was the only person around who came close to rivaling Solomon
for influence. She came from the uttermost part
of the earth. I mean, she took a trip. And
they didn't have buses or planes. They only could move by camel
and slow boat. She took a trip from the uttermost
heart of the earth to come up to Jerusalem to sit at Solomon's
feet and hear the wisdom of God. What a word. What a word. Now those Ninevites who heard
Jonah preach, they repented because they heard his word. And this
queen of the south, this queen of Sheba came up from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of God and she heard the
word from God himself by the mouth of Solomon. And those will
rise up in judgment against this generation who have a greater
than Jonah and a greater than Solomon right here revealed in
the word and condemned. The word of God stands as one
unit. Some folks try to take the Old
Testament and the New Testament and divide them up. This is not
two books from God, it's one book. It's not two revelations
from God, it's one revelation. It's the Word of God. Now, if
you don't believe what's written in the Old Testament, you can't
believe what's written in the New Testament. Because the same
Holy Spirit who inspired the prophets to write of the Queen
of the South and to write of Jonah and the experience he had
in the belly of the whale is the same Spirit of God who moved
the apostles to write of Christ, redemption, and grace as it's
expounded in the New Testament. So if there's fallacy in one
part, there's fallacy in all parts, and you just throw it
away. We recognize the authority of Scripture. All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God. All Scripture is profitable for
doctrine, reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, perfect, throughly furnished,
and prepared unto all good works. Thirdly, look at verses 43, 44,
and 45. and learn a lesson. When the unclean spirit is gone
out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and
findeth none. Then he saith, I will return
into my house from whence I came out. And when he is come, he
findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and
taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself,
and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of the man
is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto
this wicked generation. This is the lesson. Nothing is
more dangerous and destructive to the souls of men than a profession
of faith without the possession of grace. Nothing's more dangerous. Around here we don't try to get
people to make professions of faith. We don't pump and prime
and twist and try to get you to make a decision for Jesus,
young or old. And sometimes we are and mocked
and derided because we don't do so, but there's a purpose
in it, there's a reason for it. It's not at all difficult to
seize an opportunity when people are undergoing stress and get
them to make a profession of faith, young or old. You take
a boy, how old were you Ian when you fell through the ice in that
pond out there? Thirteen? 12, 13 years old, somewhere in
there. You take a fellow that age, go
through what he went through, it's not too hard to get him
to make a profession of faith. That's not too hard. If he were
40, it wouldn't be too hard to get him to make a profession
of faith. You can pump and twist and wring a profession of faith
out of folks who have just come into contact with the possibility
of death. That's not too hard to do. But
a profession of faith. without the grace of God's most
dangerous thing on this earth. Most dangerous thing on this
earth. We recognize that nothing is
more certain to destroy a person than religion without Christ. Now listen carefully to me. I
want you and all to whom I preach to know Christ. I want you to
know him. I want you to trust him and be
saved by him. Consequently, I urgently press
upon you the claims of Christ in the gospel. I continually
press upon all who hear me the absolute necessity of faith in
Christ. And I say this as well, if God
has given you faith, You're urged to confess Christ in believer's
baptism. I urge everyone to do so. Identify yourself with God's
people, with God's calls, and publicly devote yourself to Jesus
Christ and his gospel. Secret disciples are always suspect
disciples. But there are such things as
secret disciples. There sure enough are. Folks
come along and ask me, Say, is so-and-so a believer? When I treat everybody, sometimes
I like the not, because I recognize the danger of not warning men
immediately of judgment and the wrath of God. But honestly, I
don't know who's a believer and who's not. I don't know. I don't
know who God's given faith to and who he hasn't given faith
to. I recognize that there are folks like Joseph of Arimathea
who for one reason or another are secret disciples, for one
reason or another. They're always held in suspicion,
but they're disciples, sure enough. I recognize that men like Nicodemus,
apparently something happened with that man, and he was convinced
in his conversation with the Lord, and he became one of the
Lord's disciples, but secretly, secretly. The scripture says
so plainly. Now, that being the case, I recognize there are some
today who are secret disciples. I urge you not to be such, but
at the same time, I would far, far, far rather see genuine believers
hesitant about confessing Christ than see unconverted men and
women make a refuge of lies for themselves by professing what
they've never experienced. Does that make good sense to
you? Does that make good sense to you? Some of you have been
through it. Some of you have watched your
sons and daughters and other family members make a profession
of faith in false religion and they have
no interest in God. No interest in the things of
God. Never attend the house of God. Never come to the house
of worship. Have no interest in reading the
scriptures or calling on the name of God. They're just not
interested. They're just not interested. But they've got a
profession. And lad, they'll hold it till
they go to hell. Unless God intervenes. They'll hold it till they go
to hell. Unless God intervenes. This much I know. This much I
know. None of God's elect are going
to perish because we don't pump professions of faith out of people.
Not going to happen. I have a friend, a young man
wrote to me, and I wrote an article in a bulletin a few weeks ago,
I don't remember when, in response to him. He's asking about his
three-year-old daughter. She's very concerned. She hadn't
made a profession of faith yet. I said, let's wait a while longer.
Just wait just a little while longer. Hold off just a little
bit. You're not going to do any harm. You're not going to do
any harm. God's elect are going to be saved. Those who are redeemed
and called of God are coming to Jesus Christ. There's no question
about that. Our only business is to faithfully
preach the gospel. That's all. To earnestly pray
for God's blessing upon his word and wait. Just wait. I cast the bread on the waters
and I wait. I wait. And I'll be honest with
you. God helping me, I'm prepared
to wait until judgment day to find out what he does with the
bread. I'm prepared to wait. I hope you are. But we just wait,
stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. God's word will
not return to him void. It will accomplish that which
he pleases. It will prosper in the thing
whereto he sends it. And wherever he's pleased to
work, work he will. And in these verses, our Lord
Jesus describes what happens to men and women who are talked
into religion and persuaded to make a profession of faith. and
a lost religious generation, people who've never experienced
the grace of God. First, they undergo a great,
great change. The unclean spirit is gone out
of the man. He's just gone out. So the fellow
who was a drunk and a dopehead and a whoremonger and adulterer,
a liar, a thief, Just a wretch, a scandal of a
fellow. All of a sudden, man, he takes a bath every day, shaves
clean, puts on nice smelly sauce, dresses up good, goes to church
three times a week, reads his Bible, and a change has taken
place. No doubt about it, a change has
taken place. The unclean spirit's gone out.
And he's experienced something of what men would call religious
sanctification. ...and garnished. The key word's
empty. That's the key word. Swept and
garnished, but still just as empty as it was before. No grace. no God, no Christ, no righteousness,
no life, just empty religion, that's all. Then he goeth in and taketh with
himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and
they enter in and dwell there, they take up their residence
there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. He may become more vile, or he
may even become more self-righteous, but he's still without God. In
the last states, worse than the first, because he's going to
hold on to that experience. I was there. Now, fellas, don't
you tell me I wasn't saved. I remember when. I remember when
it happened. I certainly no longer had any
urge for tobacco, and no longer had any urge for the bottle,
and no longer had any urge to do the things I used to do. I
know what happened to me. But has no regard for God, no
faith in God, and the last end of it is worse than the beginning.
So shall it happen to this generation. I don't know more sobering words
I urge you, my friends, do not be content with empty,
Christless religion. Don't be. J.C. Ryle was exactly right when he
said, none prove so hopelessly wicked as those who, after experiencing
strong religious convictions, have gone back again to the sin
and to the world. One last thing, look at verses
46 through 50. Here our Lord Jesus teaches us
that all true believers are the family of God. While he yet taught
to the people, behold his mother and his brethren stood without
desiring to speak to him. That is his mother and his earthly
physical brethren, his kinsmen. Then one said unto him, behold,
thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with
thee. But he answered and said unto
him that told him, who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and my brethren. What a word. for whosoever shall
do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same as my
brother and sister and mother." Now, sometimes the Church of
God is called by one name and sometimes by another to show
us our various relationships with our Savior and our God.
Sometimes it is called the Church, sometimes the Body of Christ,
Sometimes the kingdom of God, sometimes the bride of Christ.
It is referred to as the Lord's sheepfold, unholy nation, a peculiar
people, and a royal priesthood. And many, many other names and
titles are given to God's church. Now, sometimes people get confused,
and they say, well, now, the church of God and the kingdom
of God, those are not the same. I remember once sitting in lookout.
We were sitting in class, and one of the fellows at church
there A lot of landmarkism still in it, still does have. I tried
to root it all out, but I didn't succeed. But one of the deacons
who teaches under school class one day, he said, now the Church
of God, and the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven, and
the Family of God, they're not the same, are they, Preacher? I said, yeah,
they are, John. They are the same. And I want you to understand,
they are the same. And the Scriptures never divide
them. the passage here before us our Lord teaches that all
true believers are one in him and that we are one family of
God. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
3 Ephesians 3 verse 14 Paul says, For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
look at it now, of whom the whole family of in heaven and earth
is named, the whole thing. Whosoever shall do the will of
my Father which is in heaven, that is, whosoever shall believe
on me. He's my brother, my sister, my
mother. All believers are counted by
Christ as his near kinsmen, his relatives. They are all people
for whom he feels, people he loves, people for whom he cares,
members of his family, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
Now let me tell you about him. This one who is our elder brother, he provides everything for his
family, everything, everything. So that Larry Chris, if you're
in his family and I am, whatever we need now, tomorrow, and forever,
he has provided. He's not one of those men who
will not provide for his own household. Oh, no. No, he provides
well for his family. He provides well for them. And
he protects his family. When Saul was persecuting the
church of God, the Lord Jesus spoke to him and said, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? You're not just stoning Stephen
to death. You're talking about me. Stephen's
part of me. What are you doing persecuting
me? The Lord Jesus looks after his family. He's not gonna let
anybody abuse his family. He's not gonna let anybody do
harm to his family. He protects his family. I'll
tell you something else he does for his family. He never forgets
to pray for his family. I pray for you. I pray for Buddy
Darty and his wife and his daughters and his son-in-law and his grandchildren. I pray for you. Call you by name.
But not like I ought to. Sometimes I forget. Sometimes
I forget. God forgive me and I hope you
will. Sometimes I forget. But he, he never forgets to pray
for his family. He constantly makes intercession
for his saints according to the will of God. I don't know about
you, but that satisfies me. Because the Father hears him
pray. He cannot turn away the presence
of his son. He prays for his family. Some
of God's family have already gone home. Some of his family
are here on the earth, still in their pilgrimage. But all
who do the will of his father, all who trust him, do you trust
him? I do. I sure do. All who trust
him are his family. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons
of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. And beloved, now Are we the sons
of God? May God add his blessings to
that portion of his word. Rex, will you stand and dismiss
us in prayer, please?